The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-09-21


Market IN Early Morning Hours-In-
teresting Types and Scenes.
fCopvrIcht. isoe, by Edgar L. wakemsn.l
LONDON, Sept. 5.-Of all the good old
London taverns Of bygone days those look
Ing in upon Covent Garden, or immediate
lyronnd about It, best retain that flavor
which has given English 6ctional ltera-
ture for the past 200 years one OF its most
winsome and lasting charms
used TO haunt the apartment houses
of London, up Bloomsbury way, ana
skirmish with their sad eyed, funereai
voiced. widowed, nimble fingered keepers
IA dismay and desperation, or waste my
energies upon the austerities of the grea.
hotels along the Strand But one day OF
grace succor came, and good old SAINT
Mathews. the London actor, said: my
dear boy, don't be a cad any longer ana
waste your gold among the hotel Bedoulns
of London. Live like a gentleman OF the
old school on helf the money, and TAKE
your ease at your inn In the very heart OF
that precinct where all our literature
worth reading was made. Go 10 any Oi
the ouiet old inns about Covent Garden
and be always at rest, even ID restless LOU
don"
have never been so grateful for advice
An all my life Here are half score Oh
inns. genuine old taverns, most OF them
built long before the century came In ana
every one of modern make constructed and
conducted on the old fashioned plan. They
are taverns at which the fireplaces are
huge. cavernous, CHEEKY and get-at-able-
the bedrooms warm and coy; the halls low
ceilinged. but broad and full OF real olden
settles and sofas; the smoking rooms snug
and warm and with plenty OF papers ana
books; the pictures yellow and ola ana
dim and hung IN great broad, ODD frames'
which show they were there long before
YOU were born; the dining rooms ample
and quiet and richly Drowned" the ports,
clarets and sherries with the cobWeos OF
the twenties and thirties upon them; the
food wholesome, fine and good; the porters
friendly and 'talky" when you wish TO
oct down from your own pedestal for lit
tie humanizing patter; and even the
misses in the Office and bar and rosy faced
chambermaids are not averse on occasion
70 bit Of innocent banter, which after all
ANYBODY but q prude, hermit or hypo-
critic at times truly enjoys.
And so from coming and going often
these old Covent Garden inns have become
q sort of home TO me. Their associations,
rich and mellow as the very wines they
serve. have taken their place one by one in
my heart. while the market into which
the windows of nearly all of them look,
like Silas Wegg's Our House" in Mutual
Friend" has become my market Scores OF
its folk are my intimate friends; for you
must know that most of them have easy,
all night WAYS with them, and you require
no introduction whatever to get upon eat
ing and drinking terms and into vows OF
lifelong intimacy with yokel, coster, porter
and | was almost about TO say the Prince
Of Wales himself.
That really human and clever man Of the
world often comes to "Rule's," but stones
throw from the market, where he makes
night Of it peaceably and like gentleman
with the wits of the town, ending his little
forgivable diversion by rousing jostling
among the early porters, costers and green
grocers, and taking the badinage given all
who come with royal philosophy and
CHEEKY good will. This large human lev
cling influence has always been peculiar to
the Covent Garden district. 1t is still here
as one Of the best legacies of the mellow
olden time.
What a host OF rich associations crowd
within this little Covent Garden district
Thackeray called it the 'joyous neighbor-
hood of Covent Garden" though it was
scarcely known at the beginning Of the
Seventeenth century. From the middle of
the Seventeenth to the middle Of the Nine
teenth century it was the best known
rendezvous of authors, actors painters,
good fellows generally and substantial
country squires and gentlemen visiting the
town in London. In Russell Street, now
chiefly given over to greengrocers and
fruiterers. was the then social exchange Of
the English capital, the mart Of its news,
politics, scandal and wit.
In this one short thOroughfare stood the
most noted coffee houses Of the reigns of
William III and Queen Anne, familiar to
all conversant with the best English liter
allure. Wills" Buttons" and Toms"
were "sacred to polite letters" All the
English Sir Rogers de Coverley also made
these places their London address. Pepys
and Evelyn. the historians. visited and
lodged here
wills" which stood at the west side of
Street, was the most ancient and noted OF
these resorts Drydens patronage and
frequent appearance there made the repu
tation OF the house. After the play the
cream Of those who knew London and whom
London knew gathered here for coffee,
pipe and their nightly gossip.
Addison and Steele were the most bril-
liant Of the company to which the hospi-
table doors Of Buttons" opened. But
toms" was on the north side OF Russell
Street. Addison's wife the countess was
q lady Of vinegary tastes and temper, and
he gladly withdrew much from her com
pany for solace where the wit smelled
more of vino Buttons" is gone but tie
picture will always remain as Steele
painted it, Dear Addison drunk. oelio'
crate moral, sentimental toaming over
With truth and virtue with tenderness and
friendship, and only worse In one ruffie TOR
the wine" Gay and Prior and Pope were
other famous freqnenters Of this resort.
Toms" stood at the corner Of the
Piazza 1t was on the north side, over
against Buttons" II was started IN l76s
by subscription It's most famous ire
guenters were Garrlck. Goldsmith Sir
Joshus Reynolds, Moody, Foote, Sir
Philip Francis and DR. Johnson. Near
Toms" at s Russell Street, was the book
shop Of Tom Davies, In whose tiny nac&
parlor Boswell first met Dr. Johnson.
Then followed the era Of famous Coveut