New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-09-19
FAMOUS HOUSES IN BATH
TRAFFIC in Celcbrities-SheridGn, De
omncey and Lord Chesterfield.
Bath, September g.

- ,,,-.5oy-, can rival il IN the number OF
80 residents during the last three centuries
,aal.h resort and centre OF fashlon Il mas
-..-,.+.a statesmen, diploratists military ana
- heroes artists ard men o. leI'eF9' anu
80 = Is 2 residential rather thah an liiuuS
=, tow, the houses where notaole people nave
"a ara still standing and the historical asso-
cations are definitely known Inc COZ POI e'iOii
80. long arc considered il good s'lo'e "a '@'
,ssz 20 mark well known houses WIN NJ. Ia -
.t,a+e and 10 order unveilng
.5sresses by noted men between -.
- -,-o-a ea+ ND before the truth was
foTly ta t-- -. emotions could he carried on
....5es ,,ntii hardly a conspicuous mouse IN
lol o-osoents. circles and streets would
l4le % .-,,e5 A fresh list was provided
-arsas Of addresses and luncheons has
,a5. hut the supply Of celebrities Is so
..,ble that these literary recreatlons
-, "a he 2 permanent feature OF modern
- hath AS soon as a name is written on
r. walls 2 dozen or score Of worthless equally
entitled 10 remembrance are mentioned by OLD
-sef5ents: and the omissions are often so serious
.e n discredit the honors paid TO inferior sub
sar-s. In some instances as many as three tab
ia-s gre required for the same residence. and
when one is unveiled the story is barely begun
and needs to be converted into serial If there
he envy and strife among the ghosts. how the
aoors must creak and the stairways rustic on a
windy night
Eseau Nash. the master OF ceremonies Of the
old Assembly Rooms. and Dickens. the most
-svsc;o,,s commentator on the existing estab
fshrent. were among the earliest celebrities 10
=. honored Sheridan has had TO wait for rec
ignition. although he put local color into both
The Rivals" and The School for Scandal" 1t
Is coming now. and there is choice Of houses
Gar -,7e tablet There is one in the Terrace Walk,
where after his romantic marriage he is said 10
have begun II not 10 have ended, the comedy;
and that is near the Parades. where much OF the
action passed. and, what is more important
close by the charmer's home, from which the
elopernent occurred with two duels as sequels.
The other is the house where he was living with
his father the Irish master Of elocution, when
he fell in love with the beautiful Miss Linley,
the music composers daughter 1t is now a
dingy old mansion. with tablet already orna-
rnenting the front for Bishop Butler lived and
died in 1t at least twenty years before the viva
cous Irish family took possession Of il: and 1t is
2 dull quarter Of the city which has lost its
picturesque aspects through commonplace i'm
provements Yet il stands at the corner Of
Kingsmead and suggests the coulical duel, the
cool effrontery Of Bob Acres and the sarcasms
for second tablet II The Rivals" travestied
his own sentimental adventures. THE School for
Scandal had its origin in gossip of the pump
room and scenes OF the pronenades. where Sher-
idsn had been one of the merriest OF loungers
and keenest of observers IN his early youth; and
each had the genuine comic spirit Of the friyo
lous. pleasure loving city Sir Charles Wynd
ham ought TO be asked to come down and IN
veil the tablet there; or possibly Mr.. Birrell
would be better substitute for Sheridan was
an orator and political leader well dram
afist and wit, anc all his associates and
fagonists came TO Bath at one time or another.
Chatharn's and William Pitts houses are al
ready marked with tablets; and Burle's is in
the North Parade. around the corner from the
Linley home-a house that also needs TO be
marked. beautiful was the Maid OF Bath as
Reynolds and Gainsborough painted her
Burke's apartments in the stately row Of eigh-
teenth century houses forming the North Parade
ought 10 have at least three tablets Goldsmith
often breakfasted and dned there with his
friend Lord Glare. and TO the house he fed in
6isrnsy after making mistake like that OF The
Man from Blenkley's.' and discovering that he
had invited himself 20 breakfast next door at
the Duchess of Northumberland. Burke lived
there toward the end Of his life. sadly broken in
health and talking with serenity Of death in
stately phrases; and the next tenant was De
Quincey's widowed mother. who had left behind
her the expensive home in Manchester. where
she could not afford 70 live and had brought
her children TO Bath, where they could be ed
ucated economically. Possibly she had other
apartments subsequently: but Burke's rooms are
mentioned in De Quinceys "Autobiographical
Sketches" and they were not far from the
grammar school on the Edward VI foundation
IN Broad street, where he wrote Latin verses al
Ts-S7fr r ed
with those OF the older boys so much TO his ad-
vantage that he was subjected TO the strenuous
discipline Of the playground. II q rep
resentative OF this school. which still remains on
the old site that he allowed 10 visit Sir
Sidney Smith. that "paladin Of the Napoleonic
wars who had escaped from prison in Paris
and returned from the coast by postchaise TO
his mothers house in Bath before starting on g
fresh and more brilliant adventure at Acre; and
thar modest home which can be clearly identi-
fed from De Quincey's pages. still awaits tab
let. although another dwelling bears the inferior
name Of Major Andre, and without adequate
reason. since il cannot be proved that he was
ever there. De Quincey'E name ought to be in
scribed on the walls OF the old school along with
those OF Sir Sidney Smith Sir Edward Parry and
Sir Bartle Frere-al pupils there: or, If not
there on the old mansion in the North Parade
Sir Walter scott's name is already on the walls
OF 3 similar house in the South Parade, where
he lived with an uncle for a short time in early
childhood.
On the Pierrepont street side Of the quadrangle
o. The two parades is another eighteenth cen
fury house which already has tablet This
vas where Quir, the veteran actor, passed MS
Closing years in boisterous living snd IL was
che o. Sir Henry Irving's last services TO MS
Profession - visit Bath and 10 unveil the NUM-
otpcf tribute. although he must have regretted
that Mrs. Si5dons's lodgings had not been found