The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1898-12-15
A STORED STREET.
The Great Strand in London,
and People Who Have Lived
in 1t.

"He who is tired of London is tired Of ex-
fs,ence DR.. Johnson.
Charles Lamb said of London that the
beauties of Nature were dead, insipid and
unsatiSfying as compared 10 the iuilneSS
of lie in the great city. The crowds,
the very dirt and mud, the sun shining
upon houses and paNementS, the PRINT
shops, the old book-Stalls, parsons cheap
ening books coffee-houSeS, steam Of soup
from the kitchens, the pantGmimeS-Lon-
don itself a pantomlme and a masquerade
all these things work themselves into
my mind and feed me without the power
of Satiating me. The wonder of these
sights impels me into night walks about
her crowded streets, and | often shed
tears in the motley Strand from fullness
of Joy at SO much life,
Indeed the most careless must find
here almost every phase of life-the great
and the small the rich the poor and all
the happy betweens: the philosopher, the
clod, the wicked, the good, the gay and
the melancholy, the poet, and the one in
whom imagination has evidently never
kindled her fires. All the stories of life
are TO be read here. And this is all the
present. When we look into the past, so
rich with interests every one of which has
left some mark on the city, one finds that
even the Lcndoners who delight in know
ing their town, are never done exploring il,
and for strangerS-a week, a month or
many months still leaves one unSatiSfied.
The Strand, though a storied street, is
only one OF many which have memories of
great men and great days in their history.
To tell of some Of the people who have
lived in the great houses that faced il in
the days of long ago when il was the
fashionable part OF the town, and mobiles
built their mansions fronting il, with gar
Oens that sloped back TO the Thames, is
SIMPLY 10 retell much OF Engiand's his
tory. In these fashionable days, though
4 " a hnlIHnIllu 4,
pitfalls, and the lords and ladies could
only go about il on horseback Or III chairs
SO that the Thames was the great
thoroughfare and the b0atman piled a
busy trade with his gay little boat. These
same boatmen mace a sturdy protest
against the intreauction OF the hackney
cab, and secured grants in their own favor
for many years; but finally horses and
COED pavements won the day, and though
the boatmen on the Thames are still very
busy, they do not carry fine ladies and
gentlemen about calling as they ence did.
The present Of the Strand with its press
OF bur" anlty, some grimy with dusty,
sweaty Ill, and others pale with work in
the dark little rooms way Oh from the
street; great wagons carrying supplies
crowd the buSSeS, carrying ell manner OF
people; busy men and women hurry To
and fro; young men and young women
lind each other beautiful and brave and
begin again the story OF the world; babies
tOddle, and the aged totter about. and
lazy rich and lazy poor complete the
picture. AS DR.. Johnson said: Il think
the full tide of existence is at Charing
Cross"
AtCharing Cross is memory OF a pretty
piece of England's history. Here was the
last Of the crosses that Edward put up TO
mark the places where the body of his
queen the pious and modest Eleanor
was rested on its last earthly progress as
they were carrying ii To Westminster.
There were eight other croSSeS ia mari,
the journey of the loved dead. This last
one was demolished by the Puritans in
1917, but recently faithful copy has
been put up to keep the old story of
king and his queen in mind.
The great House of the ArchbishoDs of
York was on the Strand; later it became
the property Of Sir Nicholas Bacon, and
an anecdote of Lord Bacon, told in "Au-
brey's Lives" has its scene in the gar
den:
Lord Bacon, being in York House gar
den, looking on fishers as they were
throwing their nett, asked them what
they would take for their draucht; they
answered so much: his lordshiD would
offer them no more, but so much. They
drew up their nett and it were only or 3
little fishes. His lordship then told them
il had been better for them To have taken
his offer. They replied they hoped to
have had better draught; but, said his
lordship, Hope is a good breakfast, but
an i'll supper"
This house in the years after became
the property Of George Nilliers, Duke OF
Buckingham, who sold il, but insisted
that the streets cut through the property
should be named after him, and il was SO.
The streets were and are named respect
iyely George ," "VilIiers. - Duke ;" Buck
ingham." and two OF them were once con-
nected. by a little lane named OF, so
that his title was complete. The fun