Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-04-21
LONDON'S ODD CORNERS.
AN HOUR WITH PePYS IN sEETH-
ING LANE.
A Letter which Calls to Mind the Diary
I'm Which Is Found All That Is Known
of Home Life in Pepys' Time-Lon-
dom. Great Historical Fire.



LONDON, April 2.-Even when every de-
mand of the guide book has been ignored,
and all that the ordinary sightseer deems as
essential to the proper doing" of London,
there remains for the seeker an embarrass-
ment of riches Once over London bridge
there need be hut glance towarl the Tower,
England's great slaughter housp, its mortar
mingled with blood, and every stone of the
tower and keep and dungeon ready TO cry
out against the generations of rulers who
here perverted justice. No memories appar-
entity trouble the crowd that streams through
the gates and gazes pridefully on the queens
regaha and the queens beef eaters, and such
few sights as the fear of dynamite plots has
left open TO the people, and they are the hap
pier for the fact.
The Tower is in sight as we go, but our
way lies to-day, with Pepys, whose name
stares at one in great letters from a tailors
shop in cross street. Evidently the family
bent was in this direction, for Pepys himself,
though never forced to learn his fathers
trade, was an infallible judge OF fabrics,
whether for men or women, and records the
first wearing of a choice new suit with as
distinct complacence as when he has gained
one on the kings behalf, or taken one more
step in his rise in life. If Dickens gives us
new London, or rather the London of the
last 100 years, like no other writer Of that
period of time, Pepys is no less essential to
the student of old London. The house which
he kind hearted. self seeking, lord loving
and very business like little man built for
himself in Seething lane stands no longer,
though spared by the great fire, which swept
over most of this part of London also.
The story, as Pepys gives it, may be re-
rarded as one of the first and best bits of re-
alistic description in English literature, pre-
Raphaelite in its accuracy. From the first
moment, when the maids who have sat up TO
finish some preparations for feast the next
lay, call their master at 3 in the morning to
tell Of great fire in the city, to the end,
when he wanders among the ruins trying 20
recall landmarks, one sees every inch of the
6ery progress. Pepys goes TO sleep again
lfter short look and rises late, setting at
,nce TO work with his usual love of order in
arranging the closet, disturbed by the
xomen's cleaning the previous day, and un-
ioubtedly swearing under his breath at their
theories regarding the relative value and
place of papers. But when at last he is told
hat the fire has reached London bridge he
aastens down, noting by the way how the
Door pigeons ''loath to leave their houses
,overed about the windows and balconies till
;hey burned their wings and fell down"
The people seemed equally distraught,
raying in their houses till the fire touched
hem, and then running into boats or clam
,ering from one pair of stairs by the water
yde to another.
Back to the Kings closet in Whitehall, and
Il did tell the King and Duke of York, what
rsaw, and that unless his Majesty did COM
nand houses to be pulled down, nothing
could stop the fire. They seemed much
troubled and commanded me to go to my
Lord Mayor from him, and command him to
spare no houses, but to pull down before the
Gre every way" A hand in an affair of this
magnitude was altogether to the mind of the
busy little man, who hastened by coach,
seeing extraordinary good goods carried in
,arts and on backs
The lord mayor is met at last, 'sike a
man spent with a hankercher about his
neck who, when he heard the kings mes
cage, "cried like fainting woman, 'Lordi
what can dol / am spent. People will not
obey me have been pulling down houses,
but the fire overtakes Us faster than we can
do it, So he left me, and / him. Pepys
goes on, and walked home, gazing at the
distracted people, not forgetting his passion
for fine clothes even here, but noting, Il saw
Mr.. Isaac Houblon, the handsome man,
prettily dressed and dirty at his door, at
Dowgate, receiving some of his brothers
things" Later on as the day wanes. "we
had an extraordinary good dinner, and as
merry us at this time we could be"
Here all merriment ended Even the light
hearted king felt anxiety enough to go and
como restlessly in his barge, watching the
fire from one point and another. The wind
had risen. Flakes of fire were carried and
dropped in horrible shower, and as it grew
darker, and they could endure no more on
water, they retreated TO a little ale house and
..saw the fire grow and appear more and
more, and in corners and upon steeples, and
between churches and houses. as far as we
could see up the hill of the city, in most
horrid, malicious, bloody flame, not like the
fine flame of an ordinary fire. We staid till,
it being darkish, we saw the fire as only one
entire arch of fire from this to the other side
of the bridge and in bow up the hill for an
arch of above mile long; it made me weep
to see it,
So for DAYS the story goes on till nearly
week has passed The fire reaches the foot Of
the lane the day after Pepys and Sir William
Penn have dug a hole in the garden and
buried their wine in it, not forgetting Par
mesan cheese and some papers, and he and
the pretty, silly wife, with some friends,
carry the gold TO a boat and escape to Wool
witch, Pepys leaving the treasure there with
a charge that it must be watched night and
day, and Fastening back to watch once more
the march of fire and fame
At last it ends when all have lost reckon
ing even of the days OF the week, and Pepys,
with long drawn breath of relief, celebrates
the release from anxiety by hurrying to
friends lodging, where he writes charac-
teristically, "Iborrowed shirt and washed
A week later the wine and ''Parmesan
cheese are once more in the proper place,
furniture is set up again, and Pepys goes to
church and thanksgiving service that the
fire is over, objecting strongly to the cheap
wit of the preacher, who tells them the
''city is reduced from a large folio to a
decimo tertio,n and gives them altogether "a
bad poor sermon
Generations ago the house was DESTROYED
and ware houses took its place; the whole re-
gion, indeed, is given over to trade, yet in
the midst of mans strenuous endeavors after
all goods of this world rises one reminder of
another, untouched by fire, black with age,
and giving final resting place to the busy
Pepys, who often passed in through the gate
way opening on Seething lane. 1t is his
parish church, st Olaves in Hart street,
often spoken of in the Diary as ''our owne
church, filed with curious old tombs and
beautiful specimens of old iron work, and
dedicated like various other churches of that
period to a Norwegian who came 10 England
and fought on behalf of Ethelred ii against
the Danes eventually becoming a Christian
himself, to the deep disgust of his Morse fell
lows in arms. His story ends in murder, as
do most stories of these early days. and the
church is his chief monument. Over the
gateway skulls are carved, a memorial OF tn
time Of the plague, of which Pepys writes in
full. The church yard was given up to those
who had died of it, and Pepys records, Jan.
ynfs-