New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-09-03
A RAMBLE IN ENGLAND.
BY WILLIAM WINTER.
III.
LONDON SIIRINES AND HEROES.

| cations possess. lnere are StIectS anu HouScS III
London which, for pilgrims Of this class, are
| haunted with memories and hallowed with an i'm
perishable hght-that not even the dreary COM
monness of everyday lite quench or dim.
| Almost every great author in English literature
has here left behind him personal trace, some
relic that brings at once into his living presence
| In the days of Shakespeare, -of whom 1t may be
noted that wherever you find him at all you find
! him in the most select and elegant neighborhoods,
| - Bishopsqate was retired and aristocratic
quarter of the town and here the poet had his resi-
dcnce. convenient to the theatre in Backfrars, OF
which he was an owner 1t is said that he dwelt
very near to Crosby Place, and certainly he saw
that building in It's splendor, and was often IN St
! Helens Church, by; and upon this spot
amid all the din of traffic and all tho strange adj
| jUncts of n now age-thOse who love him are In
his company. Milton was born Ia court adjacent
| to Bread. ST.. Cheapside and the explorer comes
! upon him rs "A resident in st. Brides Churchyard
| anu ut the house which is No. 10 York-st
| Queens Square I'm later times occupied by Ben
| than and by Hazltt, and III Jewin-st., Aldersgate
| When Secretary to Cromwell he lived in Scotland
Yard, which now is the headquarters OF the London
| police. His last home was in Artillery Walk, Bnn-
hill Fields but the visitor to that ground finds it
| covered by the Artillery Barracks. Walking
through kingst.. Westminster, you Will not forget
| titutiOn. q victim to the same Internal spirit of
| Irish ruf1anism which is still diSgracing humanity
| and troubling the peace of the world. Everybody
remembers Ben Jonson's terse record OF this ca
| amity: The Irish having robbed Sponsors goods
aud burnt his house and Il little child new born, he
and his wife escaped and after he died for lack OF
bread in King street," JonsOn himself is closely
and charmingy associated with places that may
still be seen lie passed his bOyhOod near Charlng
Cros3-ha Wing been born i'll what - now Northum-
berland ST. and went to the parish school at 81.
Martins in the Fields. and those no roam around
lncons Inn will surely call to mind that this
great poet helped to build it-a trowel in one hand
and Horace IN the other His residence, in his days
of fame just outside of Tempt Bar-but all
that neighborhood is new at the present day.
The Mermaid. which he frequened-wth
Shakespeare, and Fletcher, and lerrlck and
Chapman, ana Donne-was in Bread-st but no
trace OF it remains; and banking house stands
now on the site OF the Devil Tavern in Fleet-st.,
where the Apollo Club, which he founded, used to
meet The famous inscription, 40 rare Ben
Jonsonp is three times cut III the Abbey-Once in
Poets Corner and twice in the north aisle where he
was buried, the smaller OF the two slabs marking
the place of his vertical grave. Dryden in his
prosperous DAYS. dwet in Gcrrard-st., Soho, and 1t
is not a very long walk from that SPOT to the
narrow dingy. quaint little house, in Fetter Lane
in which he died. Both buildings are marked with
mural tablets and neither of them seems to have
undergone much change. Edmund Burke's house.
in GerraId-st is let in lodgings and licensed to sell
beer; but his memory hall0ws the place, and an
inscription upon IT proudly announces that here he
liyod. DR.. Johnson's house in Cough Square, bears
Likewise "A mural tablet and. standing at its ii me-
orn threshold the visitor needs but little effort
of fancy TO picture that uncouth figure shambling
through thecroOked lanes that lead into this queer
sombre confined and melancholy retreat. In this
house he wrote the first Dictionary of the English
language and the immortal letter to Lord Ches-
torlicld. The historical antiquarian society that
has marked these literary shrincs of London has,
surely rendered Il great service. The houses of
Reynolds and IOgarth. in Leicester Square, of
Byron. in Holes ST, of benjamin Franklin and
Peter the Great in Craven st, OF Campbell. in
Dukc-st.. st. James's. of Garrck, In the Adelphi
Terrace, and of Mrs Sidlons in Baker-st., but
few of the historic spots which thus commence
rated. Much. however, yet remains to be done.
One would like to know, for instance. in which
room in The Albany it that Byron wrote
Lara -; In which of the houses in Bucklnghaul-st.
Coleridge had his lodging, while he was translating
"Wallenstcn" whereabouts in Bloomsbury Square
was the residence Of Akensido who wrote The
Pleasures of Imagination" and Of Croly. who
wrote saatbel'; or where it that Gray
lived when he established himself close by
Russell Square, i'll order to he one of the lirst-as
he continued to he of the most constant.-stu-
dents at the then newly opened British Museum !
These may seem trivial things; but an sorry tor
the mln who can find no pleasure in them nature
has denied him an unailing OF Innocent hap
pness For my part when rambling in Fleet-st., it
is a special DELIGHT to remember slight an
incident as that orlei of the author of the Elegy
IN Country Churchyard,' -that he once here F
his chief satiriSt. DR.. Johnson, rolling and puitng
along the sidewalk. and cried ont to friend, /
" Here comes Ursa Major" For tine true lovers Of .
literature Ursa Major" walks oftener IN iiect-st. /
to-day than any living man.
A good thread of literary research might be
proftably followed by him who would trace the
footsteps OF all the poets that have held in Eng
land, the Office of laureate. John Kay was
laureate in the reign of Edward ~; Andrew Ber-
nard in that of Henry VII. John SHELTON in that OF
Henry VIII; and Edmund Spencer in that Of
Elizabeth. Since then the succession has included
the names OF Samuel Daniel. Michael Drayton, Ben
Jonson. Sir William Davcnant John Dryden.
Thomas Shadwcll, Nahum Tate, Nicholas Rowe,
Law renee Eusden, Colby Cibber. William White
head. Thomas Waron, Henry James Pye Robert
Southey, William Wordsworth and Alfred Tommy
SON the latter still wearing in spotess renown,
That lauiel grccner from the hrows
OF him that uttered nothing base
Most Of these bards were intimately associated
with London, and scyera. of them are buried in the
Abbey. 1t IS indeed because so many sroried
names are written upon graye-stOnes that the eX-
porcr of the old churches of London finds so lch
a harvest of impressive association and lofty
thought. Few persons visit them. and you are
likely TO find yourself comparatively alone in
rambles of this kind | went one morning into St.
" Llu,.-nncn in tLn Enll. y nn in NJ LLn