Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-11-09


dinai WoIsey was enjoying pcnp ana
pride. we may array ourselves ID
purple and fine linen and JON the
CAV life at Whitehall, then called YORK
Palace Later, with the Tudors, let us
attend banquet and ball. Never was
one place the scene of greater testlV-
ity for long period.
The scene shifts, and we see an ahH-
,ous, excited throng awaiting the
execution Of Charles |. There IN front
of tho banqueting house is the very
spot where the scaffold stood.
Then followed days of sombre quiet
ness in the palace with the Cromwelis'
only to have festivities douDiy renew
ed with the restoration.
Many were the plans for re0uildlng
Whitehall, but none were compieteo
except the plan for the banquetlhs
house. This building is the link be-
tween past and present, since the
time Of George l. it has been used as
a chapel and there divine service Is
held every Sunday. -.
Passing along the historic street OF
whitehall, where we now ma the
Horse Guards, government offices ana
other important buildings, we reacn
Charing Cross, and memory taxes
backward look. Edward /. is erecting
crosses to the memory or queen
Eleanor. Here stands one, and from
it the place derives its name. During
the Reformation the cross was de-
stroyed and a statue Of Charles l. TOOK
its place. Before Tyburn became pop
ular as a place of execution. Charing
Cross was the scene of such horrors.
About Charing Cross are many
small streets of interest-Hartshorn
Lane. where Ben Jonson passed the
first few years Of his life. and st. Mar
tins Court, where he was sent to
school, are among the number.
AS we enter the Strand let us re-
member that in the York and Lam
caster period this was open country
with few castles along the river
bank. In the time Of Henry VII. the
castles were exchanged for more peace
ful mansions, and when Edward vi.
ruled, the number of mansions had in
creased on the south side, while a row
Of houses made great pretensions on
the north. A few years later the Strand
becomes fashionable street where
the ladies drive.
AS we saunter along the street to-
day, Northumb erland avenue attracts
our attention, and we recall the old
palace which stood here more than
two hundred and fifty years.
Continuing eastward, we pass Som
erset House. and think of the original
palace, where lived in turn the wives
of James l., Charles l. and Charles II.
If we enter the present building,
which is used for government pur-
poses, we may find on file in the wills
and probate office the wills of Shakes
peare, Newton and DR.. Samuel John
son.
A little farther down the street-in
imagination-we dance around the
May-pole, perhaps in the company
which Samuel Pepys saw when on his
way to Westminster May /, 1867. Re-
member? He says, 81 met many milk
maids with their garlands on their
pals dancing with a fiddler before
them. and pretty Nellie Gwynne was
standing at her lodging door in Drury
Court in her smock sleeves and bodice
looking at me-" He thought her
mighty pretty creature"
While at Drury Lane, let us remem-
Der its past. 1t takes it's name from
the family of Druries, and is described
by Pope as ''place of residence for
poor authors" AS for Drury Lane
theater we prefer it in Shakespeare
day. Think of it, with such names
as Shakespeare, Ben Jonson. DRYDEN
and Garrick making its past famous.
Returning to the Strand, we hurry
by the Royal Courts of Justice as al
together too modern fo2 our purposes
merely recalling Butchers Row. which
was destroyed to give room for them
Butchers Row, which suggests Kit
Kat Club; and where, in 1905, might
have been seen the conspirators of the
Gunpowder Plot, with heads close to-
gether and fingers on lips.
At Fleet street we speak of Isaac
Walton's near home, and Mrs. Sal
mons wonderful waxwork exhibition
in 1895 at IL Fleet street--"it was a
most convenient place for the coaches
of quality to stand unmoIested."
Passing the end Of Chancery Lane
"a street devoted to lawyers, law and
lawful things-we are at st. Dunstans-
in-the-West. AS We look at ii we re-
member the old church which stood
in the same place, had the same name
and possessed a great fascination in
the two life-sized figures of savages
that softly tapped the quarter hours
with clubs. The clock and figures are
now preserved in Regents Park
Fetter Lane. At the corner stood
Peele's Coffee House. At number II
lived John Dryden-a tablet recalls
him, "Born 1881, died 1900, Glorious
John" We will leave Fleet Market.
now harrington Market, and pass on
TO Memorial Hall. Here, for eight GEN.
turtles, stood Fleet street prison, which
proved the next step to the Star Cham
Der. and the third step was the block,
or stake. a
Fleet street is an especially enliven-
ipo u,ornOpxy to ftc oc Dr SamOpi