CHAPTER XXIII.
SYDENHAM, NORWOOD, AND STREATHAM.
"Hinc … dominos videre colles
Et totam licet æstimare Romam."—Martial.
Situation of Sydenham—Its Rapid Growth as a Place of Residence—Sydenham Wells—The Poet Campbell—Death of Thomas Dermody—Thomas Hill—Churches at Sydenham—Rockhill—Sir Joseph Paxton—The Crystal Palace—Anerley—Norwood—The Home of the Gipsies—Knight's Hill—Beulah Spa—North Surrey District Schools—The Catholic Female Orphanage—The Jews' Hospital—Norwood Cemetery—The Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the Blind—Death of the Earl of Dudley—Streatham—Mineral Springs—Anecdote
of Lord Thurlow—The Residence of Mrs. Thrale at Streatham—The Magdalen Hospital.
"Nothing," writes Mr. Laman Blanchard, in "A
Guide to the Country round London," "can be
more charmingly sylvan, or less suggestive of the
approximate City, than the walk across the hill to
Sydenham, which reveals a varied and expansive
prospect over Kent as we approach its precincts.
The town lies in a hollow, and has a number of
opulent residents, whose elegant mansions contribute to diversify the scene. On the common
has recently been built a handsome church, and
along by the railway several stately villas have
been called into being by the increased facilities
of transit thus afforded, and the acknowledged
salubrity of the air." Since this was written, the
air remains acknowledged as salubrious as ever;
but bricks and mortar have increased, and there
are now two or more lines of railway running
through the district, and Sydenham has become a
place of great resort.
Of old Sydenham was known only as a "genteel
hamlet of Lewisham"—to which parish the greater
part of it belongs—famed for its sylvan retreats,
charming prospects, and, as we have stated in the
preceding chapter, for its medicinal springs; but
after the opening of the Croydon Railway, about
the year 1836, it grew rapidly in favour as a place
of residence; and still more rapidly after the
opening of the Crystal Palace, on the summit of
the hill, in 1854. There have now sprung into
existence long lines of villas, detached and semidetached cottages, terraces, so-called parks, and
streets.
It was about the middle of the seventeenth
century that the mineral waters were discovered on
Sydenham Common; and they were occasionally
resorted to down to comparatively recent times.
Evelyn, after visiting Dulwich College, September
2nd, 1675, "came back [to Deptford] by certain
medicinal spa waters, at a place called Sydnam
Wells, in Lewisham parish, much frequented in
summer." The waters, according to one authority,
were "of a mild cathartic quality, nearly resembling
those of Epsom;" another writes, that they formed
"a purging spring, which has performed great cures
in scrofulous, scorbutic, paralytic, and other stubborn
diseases;" whilst a third asserts that the waters
are "a certain cure for every ill to which humanity
is heir." Their popularity waned with that of the
other English medicinal waters, but the Wells
House continued to attract as a place of summer
entertainment, and it served for some time as the
head-quarters of the St. George's Bowmen, till the
enclosure of Sydenham Common put an end to
their archery practice. The Church of St. Philip,
in Wells Road, built in 1865–6, covers the site of
the wells; it is a neat cruciform structure, with
apsidal chancel, and was built from the designs
of Mr. Edwin Nash. Mr. James Thorne, in his
"Handbook of the Environs of London," tells us
there is still standing a cottage in which, according
to local tradition, George III. once stayed the best
part of a day, whilst he drank of the waters—an
escort of the Life Guards forming a cordon around
the cottage.
Sydenham is of too modern a growth to have a
history; but there are literary associations connected with the place, for "Gertrude of Wyoming"
was written there, and its author, the poet Campbell, is almost the only "eminent resident" of
the place. His house is on Peak Hill, near
Sydenham Station, and, it is said, remains unaltered; but the gardens upon which it looked
are gone. Of Campbell, Cyrus Redding writes:—"His mode of life was mostly uniform with that
which he afterwards followed in London when he
made it his constant residence. He rose not
very early, breakfasted, studied for an hour or two,
dined a couple or three hours after noon, and then
made calls in the village, oftentimes remaining for
an hour or more at the house of a maiden lady, of
whose conversation he was remarkably fond. He
would return home to tea, and then retire again to
his study, often until a late hour, sometimes even
to an early one."Here, as he wrote after leaving
it, the poet spent his happiest years. He came to
live here in 1804, shortly after the publication of
the "Pleasures of Hope." The following letter,
which Campbell wrote to his publisher, Archibald
Constable, November 10, 1804, may be of interest
here:—"I find myself obliged to remove a few
months sooner than I expected to a new house, of
which I have taken a lease for twenty-one years.
The trouble of this migration is very serious. …
I have ventured, on the faith of your support, to
purchase the fixtures of a very excellent house,
and about £100 worth of furniture, which, being
sold along with the fixtures, I get at the broker's
appraisement, i.e., half the prime cost. … If you
come to London, and drink to the health of Auld
Reekie over my new mahogany table—if you take
a walk round my garden and see my braw house,
my court-yard, hens, geese, and turkeys, or view
the lovely country in my neighbourhood—you will
think this fixture and furniture money well bestowed.
I shall, indeed, be nobly settled, and the devil is
in it if I don't work as nobly for it."
Soon after, in 1805, Horner wrote as follows:—"This morning I returned from a visit to our poet
Campbell. He has fixed himself in a small house
upon Sydenham Common, where he labours hard,
and is perfectly happy with his wife and child. I
have seldom seen so strong an argument from
experiment in favour of matrimony, as the change
has operated on the general tone of his temper
and morals." Doubtless the poet was perfectly
happy when he got away from the excitement of
the City, and settled at Sydenham.
The annual rental of Campbell's house was forty
guineas. It consists of six rooms, two on each
floor, the attic or upper storey of which was converted into a private study. From this elevation
Campbell, however, was often compelled to descend
during the summer months for change of air to the
parlour; for in the upper study he felt, to use his
own words, as if enclosed within a hotly seasoned
pie. A small garden behind the house, with the
usual domestic offices at one end, completed the
habitation, and furnished all the conveniences to
which either the poet or his amiable wife aspired.
"Externally, the new situation had much," writes
Dr. Beattie, "to soothe and interest a poetical
mind. From the south a narrow lane, lined with
hedgerows and passing through a little dell watered
by a rivulet, leads to the house, from the windows
of which the eye wanders over an extensive prospect
of undulating villas, park-like enclosures, hamlets,
and picturesque villas shaded with fine ornamental
timber, with here and there some village spire
shooting up through the forest, reflecting the light
on its vane, or breaking the stillness with the
chime of its merry bells. Ramifying in all directions he had shady walks where he was safe from
all intrusion but that of the Muses, enabling him
to combine healthful exercise with profitable meditation. During his leisure hours in summer, as
he has sweetly sung, he had a charming variety
of—
" 'Spring green lanes,
With all the dazzling field-flowers in their prime,
And gardens haunted by the nightingale's
Long trills, and gushing ecstacies of song.'"
It was while at Sydenham that the idea was
started of a poets' club. Let us give Campbell's
account of the affair. "One day," he writes—"and how can it fail to be memorable to me
when Moore has commemorated it?—Rogers and
Moore came down to Sydenham pretty early in
the forenoon, and stopped to dine with me. We
talked of founding a poets' club, and set about
electing the members—not by ballot, but vivâ voce.
The scheme failed, I scarcely know how; but this
I know, that a week or two afterwards I met with
Mr. Perry, of the Morning Chronicle, who asked
me how our poets' club was going on. I said, 'I
don't know. We have some difficulty in giving it
a name. We thought of calling ourselves "The
Bees."' 'Oh!' said Perry, 'that is a little different
from the common report, for they say you are to
be called "The Wasps."' I was so stung with this
waspish retort, that I thought no more of the
poets' club."
At Campbell's house there were pleasant dinners,
the guests including Byron, Rogers, Moore, Cyrus
Redding, and the lesser wits of the day, including
Thomas Hill, the original "Paul Pry," who lived
close by. Lady Charlotte Campbell, daughter of
the Duke of Argyll, a poetess, and lover of learning,
became the poet's neighbour at Sydenham. She
introduced her clansman to that literary coterie
which frequented the salons of the Princess of
Wales at Blackheath. (fn. 1) Another lady who was
living at Sydenham at the time Campbell was there,
was Mrs. Allsop, a daughter of Mrs. Jordan, whom
Campbell was the means of bringing out on the
stage.
Campbell resided here about sixteen years, and
during this period wrote "Gertrude of Wyoming,"
"O'Connor's Child," and "The Battle of the
Baltic;" but in course of time he gave up his
"noble" work for magazine management, editing,
and hack writing, which perhaps redounded but
little to his credit. When he undertook the editorship of the New Monthly Magazine he gave up his
Sydenham house, and removed to London.
Campbell's convivialities, it seems, were not confined to his house. Sir Charles Bell, in one of his
"letters," describes a visit he paid to the poet here,
and how, after spending the evening in-doors, he
and Campbell "rambled down the village, and
walked under the delightful trees in the moonlight;" then "adjourned to the inn, and took an
egg and plotty. Tom got glorious in pleasing
gradation, &c. … His wife received him
at home, not drunk, but in excellent spirits. After
breakfast, we wandered over the forest; not a soul
to be seen in all Norwood."
Two years before Campbell settled at Sydenham,
a more unfortunate poet, Thomas Dermody, died
there (July 15, 1802), as we have already stated
in our account of Lewisham Church, (fn. 2) in abject
misery, in a brickmaker's hut, at Perry Slough, now
called Perry Vale, on the opposite side of the railway. The house has long since been removed.
Thomas Hill, whom we have mentioned above,
was a well-known man in his day and generation.
He was an eccentric drysalter in the City, who,
gathering around him Horace and James Smith,
John and Leigh Hunt, George Colman, Campbell,
Theodore Hook, Barnes, Mathews, Redding, and
a knot of literary acquaintances, set up in the days
of the Regency as a sort of City Mæcenas. He
was something of an antiquary; knew everybody,
and apparently everything about everybody; and
was always bustling about the offices of the newspapers and magazines. Poole, the author of "Paul
Pry," is said to have drawn that character from
him. He was a sort of walking chronicle, especially where literary men and newspapers were
concerned. It was once said of him that if he
stood at Charing Cross at noonday, he would tell
the name and business of everybody that passed
Northumberland House. Mathews always declared
"Tom Hill," as he was called by all who loved
him, one of the oldest men he knew; and a writer
in the "Railway Anecdote Book" thus speaks of
him:—"Mr. Hill was the Hull of his friend Mr
Theodore Hook's clever novel of 'Gilbert Gurney,'
beyond comparison the best book of its class produced in our time. It is also related that Hill
furnished Mr. Poole with the original of his humorous character of 'Paul Pry;' but this statement is very doubtful, for 'Paul Pry,' if we mistake
not, is of French extraction. It is, however, more
certain that 'Pooh, pooh!' and other habitual expressions of Mr. Hill's, may have been introduced
by Mr. Poole into the character. Mr. Hill, it may
here be added, had the entrée to both Houses of
Parliament, the theatres, and almost all places of
public resort. He was to be met with at the
private view of the Royal Academy, and every
kind of exhibition. So especially was he favoured,
that it was recorded by a wag that, when asked
whether he had seen the new comet, he replied,
'Pooh, pooh! I was present at the private view!'
Mr. Hill, to borrow from Mr. Hook's portrait,
'happened to know everything that was going forward in all circles—mercantile, political, fashionable,
literary, or theatrical; in addition to all matters
connected with military and naval affairs, agriculture, finance, art, and science—everything came
alike to him.'"
SYDENHAM WELLS IN 1750.
Hill established the Monthly Mirror, which
brought him much into connection with dramatic
poets, actors, and managers. To this periodical
Kirke White became a contributor; and this encouragement induced him, about the close of the
year 1802, to commit a little volume of poetry to
the press. Southey, in his "Life of Kirke White,"
refers to Mr. Hill as possessing one of the most
copious collections of English poetry in existence.
While living at Sydenham, Mr. Hill received his
numerous visitors in magnificent style. On one
occasion some of the party had to walk to Dulwich
to get a conveyance to town. Campbell accompanied his friends. When they separated it was
with hats off and three boisterous cheers, "Campbell
snatching off his hat," says Cyrus Redding, "not
wisely, but too well, pulled off his wig with it, and
then, to enhance the merriment upon the occasion,
flung both up in the air amidst unbridled laughter."
Mr. Adolphus was intimate with Hill for upwards
of forty years, and spoke of him as looking fresh
and youthful to the last. With reference to his
cottage at Sydenham, Mr. Adolphus remarks: "I
have dined there with Campbell, James Smith, Jack
Johnstone, Mathews, and other celebrities. Burgundy and champagne were given in abundance,
and at that time, owing to the state of the war, they
were of enormous price—I believe a guinea a
bottle." As was to be expected, Hill's affairs soon
became deranged, and he was made a bankrupt.
His fine library was not sold by auction, but by
private contract to Messrs. Longman and Co., and
formed the ground-work of that collection of which
they published a catalogue, under the title of
"Bibliotheca Poetica Anglicana." He died in
chambers in the Adelphi, at the age of eighty-one,
in the year 1840, leaving a fortune of £15,000 to a
stray friend who used to dine with him on Sundays
at Hampstead. The following burlesque epitaph
on him is from the pen of Cyrus Redding:—
THOMAS HILL; Obilt 1840.
Here at last, taciturn and still,
Lies babbling, prying Thomas Hill.
Marvellous his power in explanations
Of others' business or vocations;
Retailing all he ever knew,
Or knew not—whether false or true,
Happy to give it an addition
That beat Munchausen competition.
With ruddy cheek, and spring-tide eye,
Few thought that he could ever die;
But news grew scant; what should he do,
But die for want of something new,
Who'd lived to eighty-one the chorus
Of others businesses and stories?
Yet truth to tell they're many worse,
Whose histories I might rehearse.
The worst of him I can recite,
I've told—so Thomas Hill, good night!
SITE OF THE CRYSTAL PALACE IN 1852.
In the early part of the present century, in
Sydenham and its environs, eight hundred acres
of common-land were enclosed; and now nearly
the whole has been formed into streets, so that this
once beautiful rural district is rapidly becoming an
integral part of the great metropolis, Sydenham
chapelry alone having a population of more than
25,000, and the place altogether comprises some
half-dozen ecclesiastical districts. The Church of
St. Bartholomew, on what was once Sydenham
Common, is a roomy and commodious Gothic
edifice, and was erected in 1830. Christ Church,
near the Forest Hill railway station, was consecrated in 1855, but was only recently completed
by the erection of a tower and chancel; it is in the
Early Decorated style of architecture. Holy Trinity
Church, Sydenham Park, is of similar architecture,
and was built in 1865. St. Saviour's, on Brockley
Hill, at the north extremity of Sydenham, is a large
Decorated building, and was consecrated in 1866.
St. Michael and All Angels', Lower Sydenham,
serves as a chapel of ease to St. Bartholomew's.
Of St. Philip's, in Wells Road, we have already
spoken. Besides these places of worship, there are
Free, Presbyterian, Wesleyan, and other chapels;
many schools, both public and private; public
halls, library and working men's institutes, local
societies, and two weekly newspapers.
The most important feature in connection with
Sydenham is the Crystal Palace; we say in connection with, for, though not actually in Sydenham—the greater part being said to be in Lambeth parish—it is always considered to belong to it. It occupies the high ground to the south-west of Sydenham.
The land over which the palace grounds—nearly
three hundred acres in extent—stretch, falls rapidly
away to the east, and from the terrace in front of
the palace a prospect is obtained of surpassing
beauty, over richly-wooded and undulating plains
to the distant hills of Kent and Surrey. A little
to the north of the palace, and overlooking the
grounds, stands Rockhill, from 1852 the residence
of Sir Joseph Paxton, the designer of the Crystal
Palace, the Great Exhibition building of 1851, of
Chatsworth conservatory and gardens, &c.
Sir Joseph Paxton, who was originally introduced
to the Duke of Devonshire by his Grace's secretary,
Mr. Ridgway, of May Fair, came into his service
as a gardener's lad at fourteen shillings a week.
He soon showed, however, talents which led to
his advancement, and laid out the gardens at Chatsworth in a manner worthy of "Capability" Brown (fn. 3)
himself. As Mr. Mark Boyd tells us in his "Social
Gleanings," "Great was Mr. Ridgway's astonishment
when, some years afterwards, he sat down to dinner
at Chiswick with the duke and the other members
of the family, and found himself seated by the side
of the former gardener's lad, they being the only
guests who were not Cavendishes or LevesonGowers." Sir Joseph Paxton designed the Crystal
Palace on the plan of a large conservatory which
he had erected at Chatsworth, and had the satisfaction of seeing his principles of construction
adopted extensively in railway stations and other
large structures before his death. He sat for some
years as M.P. for Coventry, through the duke's
interest, and died at his house at Sydenham in
1865.
As we have already stated, (fn. 4) it was in 1852 that
the idea of erecting the Crystal Palace near Sydenham first originated. When the Government declined to purchase the Great Exhibition building
in Hyde Park, a few enterprising gentlemen came
forward and rescued it from destruction. They
purchased it, and the materials were removed to
Sydenham, where it was re-erected, but with many
modifications of form and detail. The original projectors had no difficulty in securing the aid of Sir
Joseph Paxton as director of the park and gardens,
which it was intended to unite with the palace; of
Mr. Owen Jones and Mr. Digby Wyatt, as directors
of the fine art department and of the decorations;
and of Mr. Charles Wild, the engineer of the old
building, as the engineer for the new one. Sir
Charles Fox and Mr. Henderson also were engaged
as contractors, and they undertook to take down,
remove, and re-erect the structure for £120,000.
The "Crystal Palace Company" was then announced, with a capital of £500,000, in 100,000
shares of £5 each. The capital, however, was
subsequently increased to £1,000,000, and before
the works in the building and grounds were concluded this amount was considerably increased.
Two years were spent in extensive and expensive
preparations. The first column of the main structure was raised on the 5th of August, 1852. Messrs.
Owen Jones and Digby Wyatt were charged with
a mission to the Continent, in order to procure
examples of the principal works of art in Europe.
England was also searched for copies of artistic
antiquities; and Sir Joseph Paxton commenced
his own operations by securing for the company
the extensive and celebrated collection of palms
and other plants which it had taken the Messrs.
Loddige, of Hackney, (fn. 5) a century to collect. The
building was formally opened on the 10th of June,
1854, the Queen, the Prince Consort, the King of
Portugal, and other distinguished personages, being
present at the ceremony.
In several points the Crystal Palace at Sydenham
differs from its predecessor in Hyde Park. There
are three transepts instead of one, and the roof of
the nave is arched instead of flat, being thus raised
forty-four feet higher than the old nave. There
are many other differences between the appearance
of the old and new Crystal Palaces, but these
are among the chief. As before, iron and glass
are almost the only materials used in the building.
The larger portion of the northern wing, including
the tropical department and the Assyrian Court,
was destroyed by fire on the 30th of December,
1866, and has been only partially rebuilt since.
Originally the main building was 1,608 feet long,
while its prototype was 1,851 feet; but there are
wings and a colonnade in the new building, which
make a considerable addition in the total length.
These wings extend into, and, as it were, enclose
the Italian garden. The nave and north and south
transepts are 72 feet wide and 104 feet high—just the height of the transept in the Hyde Park
building. The central transept is the feature of
the new building. It is 384 feet long (the north
and south transepts being 336), 120 feet wide, and
168 feet from the floor to the top of the ventilator—its total height, from the garden front, being
208 feet, or six feet higher than the Monument.
Another difference in the construction of this
building is that there is a basement storey, which
was long known by the appellation of "Sir Joseph
Paxton's Tunnel." This basement storey, or tunnel,
contains apparatus for warming the building by
rows of furnaces and boilers, and an iron network
forming fifty miles of steam-pipes. There are
about thirty boilers, arranged in pairs along the
tunnel at regular distances. At each extremity of
the building are lofty towers. The west front of
the palace abuts upon a broad roadway, formed
out of Dulwich Wood; it is a light and airy facade,
resembling that of the north side of the Crystal
Palace in Hyde Park, except that it presents three
arched transepts to the eye instead of only one.
Attractive as this front of the palace is, that to the
east, as seen from the gardens, is much more so.
Grace and elegance are certainly combined in the
outline; and when the vast edifice reflects the
rays of the sun, it sends forth millions of coruscations, and forms an object of surpassing brilliance.
The following lines, by a popular poet, appeared
shortly after the completion of the building:—
"But yesterday a naked sod,
And see—'tis done!
As though 'twere by a wizard's rod,
A blazing arch of lucid glass
Leaps like a fountain from the grass,
To meet the sun.
"A quiet green, but few days since,
With cattle browsing in the shade,
And lo! long lines of bright arcade
In order raised;
A palace, as for fairy prince,
A rare pavilion, such as man
Saw never since mankind began,
Is built and glazed!"
Thackeray has celebrated the building in a more
comic fashion:—
"With ganial foire,
Thransfuse me loyre,
Ye sacred nympths of Pindus;
The whoile I sing
That wondthrous thing,
The Palace made o' windows.
"Say, Paxton, truth,
Thou wondthrous youth,
What stroke of art celestial,
What power was lint
You to invint
This combination cristial?" (fn. 6)
In the interior there is a long and lofty nave,
intersected at regular distances and at right angles
by three transepts, and with aisles on each side,
occupied by various fine art, industrial, and architectural courts, surrounded by galleries supported
on light, airy, and apparently fragile columns, with
an arched roof of glass, extending from north to
south upwards of 1,000 feet. There are two galleries—in the central transept three; the first is
gained from the ground by eight flights of steps,
one at each end of the north and south transepts,
and two at each end of the centre transept; they
are about twenty-three feet high. This gallery is
twenty-four feet wide; and the landing-places, in
the two end transepts, seventy-two feet long and
twenty-four feet wide, form platforms from which
excellent views of the nave are obtained. The
gallery of the central transept crosses the nave at
an elevation of 100 feet; and is gained by spiral
staircases at each end of the transept. This gallery, as well as the second, is used only as a promenade. The passage along the latter is carried
through a series of ring or "bull's-eye" girders,
seven feet in diameter, resting upon the columns
which project into the nave. There is a very fine
view of the country from this gallery; and looking
forward through the long vista of circular girders,
diminishing gradually in the distant perspective,
produces a very singular but fine effect. The view
of the park and grounds from the third gallery will
well repay the visitor for the trouble of ascent.
"Round the upper gallery," Mr. Phillips informs
us in his "Guide," "at the very summit of the
nave and transepts, as well as round the groundfloor of the building, are placed louvres, or ventilators, made of galvanised iron. By opening or
closing these louvres, a service readily performed,
the temperature of the Crystal Palace is so regulated, that, on the hottest day of summer, the dry
parching heat mounts to the roof to be dismissed,
whilst a pure and invigorating supply is introduced
at the floor in its place, giving new life to the
thirsty plant, and fresh vigour to man. The coolness thus obtained within the palace will be sought
in vain, on such a summer's day, outside the
edifice." At night the building is very effectively
lighted up from above by the aid of a row of jets
which run round it, just below the spring of the
arching roof.
It would be impossible to give within the limits
of this work a detailed account of all the varied
attractions of the interior of the building; and,
indeed, such a task is rendered needless by the
"Guide to the Palace and Park," and the Handbooks to the various Courts, which are published
by the Crystal Palace Company, and obtainable in
the building. A rough glance at the contents,
therefore, is all that we can here pretend to take.
Commencing at the southern extremity of the
nave, immediately in front of the refreshment
counters, is a Gothic screen, consisting of a centre
and two wings, in which are placed, in niches,
statues of the kings and queens of England, from
casts of those statues in the new Houses of Parliament; this screen was designed by Mr. Digby
Wyatt. From this spot a view of the whole extent
of the nave is obtained, and a beautiful view it
is. Immediately in front of the spectator is a
large ornamental basin, in which is displayed the
Victoria Regia and other tropical aquatic plants;
in the centre of the basin stands what has been
not inaptly termed "the world-famed crystal fountain," (fn. 7) which on the break-up of the Great Exhibition of 1851 became the property of the directors
of the new Crystal Palace. Beyond this, the eye
rests upon a long vista, varied on each side with
statues, handsome glass cases, displaying various
works of modern art and industry, and trees,
flowers, and plants, of the tropical regions, blooming in all the brilliance of their native climes;
whilst suspended from the galleries are ornamental
baskets containing plants.
The Handel Festival Orchestra, which occupies
the western portion of the great central transept,
was originally erected for the first festival in 1857,
and has been since gradually enlarged, until it
reached its present pitch of size and completeness.
Its diameter is double that of the dome of St.
Paul's. At the festival concerts more than 4,000
instrumental and vocal performers are accommodated within its spacious area. The arch which
forms the ceiling of the vast structure—one of the
largest timber arches yet erected—is of the latest
improvement. The organ was built by Messrs.
Gray and Davison, expressly for the palace; it has
four rows of keys, and contains seventy-four stops
and 4,598 pipes.
At the eastern end of the transept, facing the
great orchestra, is the theatre, in which are given
dramatic performances, pantomimes, &c. Close
by is a concert-room capable of containing a large
number of performers and listeners, and generally
filled on the occasion of the popular concerts given
here on Saturday afternoons.
On either side of the nave, on the floor of the
palace, are the various courts above referred to,
the mere mention of the names of which is sufficient to indicate their nature and character; they
are the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Mediæval, Renaissance, Italian, French, Ceramic, Pompeian,
Bohemian, &c. A large portion of the galleries is
devoted to the exhibition and sale of pictures,
forming one of the main centres of attraction in
the building.
Leaving the palace by the flight of granite steps
from the central transept, we reach the "upper
terrace," which extends along the whole base of
the building; it is 1,500 feet long and 50 feet
wide. Fifteen feet lower lies the terrace garden,
reached by six flights of steps, and bounded on the
southern side by a stone balustrade, with numerous
recesses. Besides the magnificent central circular
basin, throwing out a lofty jet d'eau, there are
numerous others of an elliptic shape, profusely
intermingled with statues, vases, richly-coloured
flower-beds, shrubs, and trees, on which the long
shadows of the projecting transepts fall. From
the terrace gardens three flights of stone steps,
their side balustrades adorned in like manner with
statuary, conduct the visitor to a garden fifteen feet
lower.
A central walk, nearly 100 feet in breadth, leads
from the centre of the terrace garden through the
lower garden, where it divides, and, re-uniting on
the other side of a basin, 200 feet in diameter, continues on through parterres, laid out in a graceful
admixture of the Italian and English styles of ornamental gardening.
The extent of the ground in which these fountains are displayed is ingeniously made to appear
greater than it really is, by the skilful mode in
which it has been treated. Broken ground, mounds,
artificially constructed, crowned with forest trees,
and groves of rich evergreen shrubs, forming tortuous alleys of perpetual verdure, and intersecting
each other in the most natural manner, impart the
effect of size and distance to a space that is comprised in about two hundred acres. Two "water
temples" and a "rosary" are amongst the most
attractive objects in the gardens; but unquestionably the most prominent attraction of the grounds,
irrespective of their natural beauty, is formed by
the system of waterworks, which, it is said, far
surpass, in their completeness and design, any
other display in the world, including even those of
Versailles. The whole system is divided into two
series—the upper and lower. The former comprises the six basins in the Italian garden, the
large central basin in the broad walk, and the two
smaller ones on each side of it; in all, nine fountains. These constitute the display on ordinary
occasions. Beyond and below them is the lower
series, which consist of the two water temples, the
cascades, and the numerous groups of fountains
arranged in the large lower basins. These are
usually known as the "great fountains," and are
played on special and grand occasions only. The
two "grand" fountains in the lower grounds are
by far the largest in the world, and impart the
grandest effect to the whole series. The outlines
of their two greatest basins are similar in design,
each being 784 feet long, with a diameter of 468
feet. The central jet in each is 2¼ inches diameter, and reaches the extraordinary height of
more than 250 feet. Around each central jet is
a column, composed of fifty 2-inch jets. The force
of water which presses on the mouth of these pipes
is equivalent to 262 pounds to the square inch.
When the whole is in operation, 120,000 gallons of
water per minute are poured forth by 11,788 jets;
and in one single complete display, lasting half an
hour, nearly 4,000,000 gallons are consumed. The
artesian well, from which the fountains are supplied with water, is well worthy of notice. It is a
brick shaft, 8½ feet in diameter and 247 feet deep.
From this depth an artesian bore descends still
further for 328 feet, making the entire distance
from the surface 578 feet. A supply of water
having been thus obtained, the next operation is to
raise it from the bottom of the hill, where the well
is situate, to a sufficient height to play the fountains.
The pressure required to force the respective jets
of water to heights ranging from 5 to nearly 300
feet is obtained in the following simple manner.
Reservoirs were formed at different levels in the
grounds, the highest of all being situated at the top
of the hill adjoining the north end of the building;
the second, or intermediate reservoir, was on a
level with the basin of the great central fountain;
and the lower lake, at the extreme end of the
grounds, formed the lower reservoir. Three pairs
of powerful engines were then erected; one contiguous to the artesian well; the second at the
intermediate reservoir; and a third adjoining the
north end of the building, close to the highest
reservoir. By this system water is pumped by the
lower engine to the intermediate reservoir, and
from thence by another engine to the upper level,
where a third raises it to two enormous tanks,
erected on columns, and to the tanks on the top
of the two high towers, which play the main jets
of the lower fountains. By this arrangement the
water, instead of being wasted, is economised, and
passing backwards and forwards from one reservoir
to the other, is used again and again; the intermediate reservoir collecting it after a display of the
upper series, and the lowest one forming a similar
receptacle when a display of the large fountains
takes place.
Passing round the margin of the great fountain
basin, and crossing the broad central walk, which
divides the two lower basins, the visitor, by ascending a flight of steps, reaches the grand plateau,
which is an embankment fifty feet wide, and commands a general view of the lake, containing three
islands, the two largest wholly occupied by lifesized models of the gigantic animals of the ancient
world. It is here that one of the most original
features of the Crystal Palace Company's grand
plan of instruction has been carried out. There all
the leading features of geology are found displayed,
in so practical and popular a manner, that a child
may discern the characteristic points of that useful
branch of the history of nature.
The spectator, standing on the upper terrace of
the plateau, has before him the largest educational
model ever attempted in any part of the world.
It covers several acres, and consists of a display
of nearly all the rocks that constitute the known
portion of the earth's crust, from the old red sandstone to the latest tertiary beds of drift and gravel.
Descending by the path, a few paces to the right,
we have a nearer view of the older rocks, immediately facing the rustic bridge, the lowest of
which, the old red sandstone, is seen just above
the water, forming a foundation upon which is
superposed the whole mass of cliff on the right,
consisting of mountain limestone, mill-stone grit,
bands of ironstone, and beds or seams of coal,
capped by the new red sandstone. The coalmeasures are thus exhibited between their most
evident boundaries, the old red sandstone below,
and the new red sandstone above; the whole being
re-constructed of several thousand tons of the actual
materials, in exact imitation of the Clay Cross coalbeds. The series was carefully tabulated by Professor Ansted, to ensure its geological accuracy,
according to Sir Joseph Paxton's designs for the
picturesque arrangement of this interesting portion
of the grounds.
On the margin of a lake close by are to be seen
life-like models of the former gigantic inhabitants
of the earth, whose race has long since become
extinct, such as the Iguanodon, the Palæotherium,
the Anoplotherium, and other antediluvian animals,
with names equally interesting, and in all their
pristine ugliness.
THE CRYSTAL PALACE, FROM THE SOUTH.
On gala or fète days, or the occasion of any
great festival—as when the Odd Fellows, or the
Foresters, or the Licensed Victuallers, attend en
masse—the number of visitors to the palace is
prodigious, reaching to seventy or eighty thousand;
but, nevertheless, commercially, the place has not
proved so successful as was at first anticipated.
The undertaking was carried out on too grand a
scale. It was at first assumed that what people
wanted was scientific amusement; the blunder,
however, was a costly one, for it reduced the worth
of the five-pound shares to a fifth of their nominal
value, and created a great deal of unpleasant feeling
in the bosoms of a large class of people who
believed, in promoting this scheme of popular
amusement and instruction, they had made a
good investment for themselves. It has been
said, and perhaps truthfully, that "if there is sufficient amusement in the way of fireworks or
fountains, of concerts and drama, of exhibitions
and flower-shows, of painting and statuary, of
machinery in motion—so much the better. But
the main objects are the eating and drinking, and
fine air and fun. What Londoners want is 'an
outing.' It is for this that people go to Sydenham; and for this, it must be admitted on all
sides, the most complete provision has now been
made. If one really requires a wonder, there is
the building itself."
MARGARET FINCH'S COTTAGE, NORWOOD, IN 1808.
We have alluded above to the accidental fire
by which a portion of the building was destroyed.
This occurred on the 30th of December, 1866;
and the larger portion of the northern wing, including the tropical department and the Assyrian
Court, was burnt down. An unfortunate chimpanzee, which had been one of the "lions" of the
palace, perished in the flames. This wing has only
been partially rebuilt, much to the injury of the
symmetry of the edifice. Whatever may have been
the cause of this disastrous fire, it was, at all events,
a curious fact that it occurred on the very day
after a lecture on combustion had been given in
the palace.
Of late years a large library and reading-room
have been added, and lectures on cookery and other
branches of useful education, as well as on art and
science, have been delivered to numerous classes
of students of either sex. A large aquarium also,
stocked with salt-water as well as fresh-water fish,
now forms one of the attractions of the place; and
it is intended by the managers and directors of the
company still further to increase the educational
appliances of the Crystal Palace.
Anerley, which adjoins Sydenham on the southeast, was at one time noted for its tea-gardens,
which for some years served as an attraction to
the South Londoners. They were opened in or
about the year 1841 by a Mr. Coulson, but do not
appear to have attained to a tithe of the popularity
of old Ranelagh or of Vauxhall, notwithstanding
its swings and "roundabouts," its fireworks, and
its al fresco dancing platforms. After passing
through various hands, they were finally closed
in 1868. A corner of the gardens was taken off
on the formation of the Croydon Railway. The
Croydon Canal, which formerly ran through the
grounds in its course from the Thames at Deptford, has been drained and filled up for several
miles, with the exception of a few places in which
it remains as ornamental water.
Stretching away from Anerley, towards Mitcham,
Tooting, and Streatham, and lying partly in Croydon parish, and partly in the parishes of Battersea,
Lambeth, Streatham, and Camberwell, is Norwood,
which, at no very remote period, was described as
"a village scattered round a large wild common,"
and as "a principal haunt of the gypsies." The
Crystal Palace, though always described as in
Sydenham, is said really to belong partly to Norwood, and the high ground on which it stands,
together with the rival hills of Hampstead and
Highgate, may be regarded as sentinel castles on
either side of the valley of the Thames.
In a "History of the Gypsies," published in the
first part of the present century, it is said that
Norwood had long been a favourite haunt of that
brotherhood, on account of its remote and rural
character, though lying so handy for both London
and Croydon. It appears that besides being
occasionally brought before the magistrates for
robberies of chickens and other denizens of the
farm-yard, the gipsies here were occasionally made
by the justices to feel the full force of the laws
against vagrancy, and that occasionally they were
"hunted down" without having done much to
deserve it, being made the scapegoats of others
who had fairer skins. Hither the Londoners of
the last century resorted in fine weather to have
their future lot in life foretold to them by the
palmistry of the "Zingari" folk.
Gipsy Hill, and an inn still called the "Queen
of the Gipsies," commemorate the inmate of a
small outhouse who lived on this hill, and who
died here in 1760—it is said at the age of 109
years. Her name was Margaret Finch, and for
half a century she had lived by telling fortunes in
that rural and credulous neighbourhood. She was
buried in a deep square box, as, from her constant
habit of sitting with her chin resting on her knees,
her muscles had become so contracted that at last
she could not alter her position. "This woman,"
observes Mr. Larwood, in his "History of Signboards," "when a girl of seventeen, may have
been one of the dusky gang that pretty Mrs.
Samuel Pepys and her companions went to consult
in August, 1668, as her lord records in his 'Diary'
the same evening, the 11th: 'This afternoon my
wife, and Mercer, and Deb went with Pelling to
see the gypsies at Lambeth and have their fortunes
told; but what they did I did not enquire.'" "A
granddaughter of Margaret Finch," Mr. Larwood
adds, "was living in a cottage close by in the
year 1800."
Norwood must really have derived its name from
being the "wood" that lay to the "north" of the
large ecclesiastical town of Croydon; for it lies
to the south of London. Two centuries ago
Norwood was really a wood and nothing more.
Aubrey, giving an account of Croydon at that
period, in his "Perambulation of Surrey," writes:
"In this parish lies the great wood, called Norwood,
belonging to the see of Canterbury, wherein was
an ancient remarkable tree, called Vicar's Oak,
where four parishes meet in a point." These
parishes, doubtless, were Lambeth, Camberwell,
Lewisham, and Croydon.
The wood and the gipsies too have long since
been swept away, and are now known only by
tradition. Among the few mansions of note that
once existed in this neighbourhood, the most conspicuous was Knight's Hill, which was built for
Lord Chancellor Thurlow by Henry Holland,
the architect of Carlton House and of old Drury
Lane Theatre, which was burnt down in 1809.
Notwithstanding the splendid views said to be
obtained from the upper windows of the mansion,
it appears that Lord Thurlow never resided in it,
but contented himself with a smaller house, called
Knight's Hill Farm. In Twiss's "Life of Lord
Eldon," it is stated that "Lord Thurlow built a
house in the neighbourhood of London. Now,"
adds the author, "he was first cheated by his
architect, and then he cheated himself; for the
house cost more than he expected, so he never
would go into it. Very foolish, but so it was. As
he was coming out of the Queen's Drawing-room,
a lady, whom I knew very well, stopped him, and
asked him when he was going into his new house.
'Madam,' said he, 'the queen has just asked me
that impudent question; and as I would not tell
her, I will not tell you.'" Mr. Thorne, in his
"Environs of London," states that the house and
grounds were reported to have cost £30,000.
Both have now disappeared, having, with his
lordship's adjoining manor of Leigham, been
appropriated for building purposes.
Another noted place in Upper Norwood, during
the second quarter of the present century, was
Beulah Spa, which was founded on an extensive
scale in 1831, for the purpose of rendering available the medicinal properties of a spring strongly
impregnated with sulphate of magnesia. The Spa
had been known to the inhabitants of Norwood
from time immemorial; but it existed only as a
bubbling spring, to which the rustics resorted for
the cure of trifling maladies, until about the year
1828, when the then proprietor of the surrounding
grounds, some thirty acres in extent, expended
large sums in converting them into a place of
recreation, with charming walks, terraces, and
rustic lodges, a "pump," orchestra, reading-room,
&c., the whole being carried out from the designs
of Mr. Decimus Burton. In its altered state it
was opened for public use in August, 1831. It is
now forgotten as a place of resort, and even its
chalybeate spring has passed comparatively out of
memory. The water was a saline purgative, much
resembling the Cheltenham water, and, like that of
the Epsom water, owed its medical qualities chiefly
to the sulphate of magnesia which was dissolved in
it; but some other saline substances, as sulphate
of soda, common or marine salt, and chloride of
sodium, were likewise contained in this water in
small proportions.
In 1839 a fête for the Freemasons' Girls 'School
was given here, under the special patronage of the
Queen Dowager. The vocal and instrumental
concert provided for the occasion was of first-rate
order; Grisi, Persiani, Rubini, Ivanhoff, &c., lending their assistance on the occasion.
The readers of Thackeray will not have forgotten
the charity fête at Beulah Spa, devised by Lady de
Sudley, on behalf of the "British Washerwoman's
Orphans' Home," which figures in Cox's "Diary."
The Spa is thus described by a writer in the
Mirror for April, 1832:—"We entered the grounds
at an elegant rustic lodge, where commences a new
carriage-road to Croydon, which winds round the
flank of the hill, and is protected by hanging
woods. The lodge is in the best taste of ornate
rusticity, with the characteristic varieties of gable,
dripstone, portico, bay-window, and embellished
chimney: of the latter there are some specimens
in the best style of our older architects. Passing
the lodge, we descended by a winding path through
the wood to a small lawn or glade, at the highest
point of which is a circular rustic building, used as
a confectionery and reading-room, near which is
the Spa, within a thatched apartment. The spring
rises about fourteen feet, within a circular rockwork enclosure; the water is drawn by a contrivance
at once ingenious and novel; a glass urn-shaped
pail, terminating with a cock of the same material,
and having a stout rim and cross-handle of silver,
is attached to a thick worsted rope, and let down
into the spring by a pulley, when the vessel being
taken up full, the water is drawn off by the cock."
Notwithstanding that the grounds were furnished
with all the appliances for well-to-do water-drinkers,
Beulah Spa enjoyed but a brief run of popularity.
In the end it collapsed, and the site was handed
over to the builders. Some portion of the
grounds, however, have been preserved; and there
is (or was recently) within them a hydropathic
establishment, where the curative qualities of the
water may be tested.
On the hill overlooking what was once Beulah
Spa, Mr. Sims Reeves has lived for many years.
Norwood is situated on a series of beautiful
valleys and hills, the latter rising, it is said, to the
height of 300 feet above the level of the sea at
low water; but, like Sydenham, is being rapidly
converted into a region of bricks and mortar. It
possesses seven or eight churches, a large number
of dissenting chapels and mission-houses, capacious
and comfortable hotels, together with hydropathic
and homœopathic establishments. The Queen's
Hotel at Norwood, close to the Crystal Palace, is
said to be the largest private hotel in the kingdom.
Among the institutions of various kinds which
abound in this locality, a prominent place is held
by the North Surrey District School, in the Anerley
Road. It is a very large and complete establishment, covering an area of about fifty acres. It
provides accommodation and the means of industrial training for nearly 1,000 children from the
surrounding district unions.
The Roman Catholic Orphanage of Our Lady,
founded in 1848, is under the charge of a religious
community of ladies, and contains about 320
orphan and poor children, who are lodged, fed,
and clothed, until they are fit to be placed in
situations as domestic servants, for which they
are specially trained. The children, when placed
in service, are watched over by the community,
who give prizes annually to those who keep their
situations longest, and can supply the best
characters. There is also a home attached, into
which the orphans are received when out of
situation and in sickness, provided they have conducted themselves satisfactorily. The institution is
a branch from the Monastery de la Notre Dame
des Orphelines, at La Delwrande, in Normandy,
celebrated for its treatment of orthopœdic diseases,
from which many English families are said to have
derived great benefit. The building here was
commenced in 1855, and was erected from the
designs of Mr. Wardell. It is of Gothic design,
with a tower in the centre, and covers a large
extent of ground. A part of the edifice, entirely
distinct from the orphanage, is used as a boardingschool for young ladies of the higher classes.
Noticeable for its architectural as well as philanthropic character is the Jews' Hospital, Lower
Norwood, which was erected in 1863, from the
designs of Mr. Tillot, "for the maintenance of the
aged poor, and the industrial training of friendless
children." The Jews' Hospital, one of the oldest
charitable institutions of the Jews in England, was
originally established in Mile End, in the year
1806. Large sums were collected by its founders,
Messrs. B. and A. Goldsmid; considerable legacies
have been bequeathed to it; the benevolent family
of Rothschild have greatly benefited it; and the
members of the Jewish body generally have at all
times given it their support. The change from so
crowded a locality as Mile End to the present
eligible site of the hospital has, doubtless, proved
advantageous to the institution, and to the Jewish
community generally. The edifice, which is constructed of brick with stone dressings, is a good
specimen of the Jacobean style of architecture.
Over the hall, &c., is a synagogue, with a gallery,
having an open timber roof.
The schools of the Westmoreland Society, for
children of parents residing within seventy-five
miles of London, are at Lower Norwood. Close
by, on the slopes of a gentle hill, and occupying
some forty acres of ground, is Norwood South
Metropolitan Cemetery. It was one of the earliest
of our great metropolitan cemeteries, having been
founded in 1839. The grounds are well laid out,
and command good views across Sydenham, Penge,
and Beckenham. The cemetery is becoming
rapidly filled with monuments. Many men of
mark have their last resting-place here: among
them Justice Talfourd, Douglas Jerrold, Angus
Reach, Laman Blanchard, Sir Wm. Cubitt (the
celebrated engineer); Sharon Turner, the historian;
Sir Wm. Napier, the historian of the Peninsular
War; James Wm. Gilbart, the founder of the
London and Westminster Bank; and Frederick
Robson, the comedian.
In Upper Norwood is the Royal Normal College
and Academy of Music for the Blind, which was
established in 1874, to afford a thorough general
and musical education to the youthful blind of
both sexes, who possess the requisite talent so as
to qualify them for self-maintenance. The founders
of the college, recognising that all of the different
kinds of handicraft suitable for the blind were
thoroughly taught in various establishment throughout the country, have confined themselves to the
special work of preparing the blind as teachers,
organists, and pianoforte tuners. The college is
designed to form a supplement to the other institutions, and in no sense is it expected that it will
take the place of the older establishments, or in
any way interfere with their work. The college
embraces three distinct departments—that of
general education, of music, and pianoforte tuning.
Each has been carefully planned, furnished with
the most modern appliances, and provided with
experienced teachers especially adapted to their
part of the work.
At Norwood, in 1833, died the Earl of Dudley,
having been insane for the last few months of his
life. He had always been eccentric; but in the
early part of 1832 he was declared by Sir Henry
Halford to be insane, having committed a variety
of harmless extravagances; and his last days were
passed in retirement.
On the southern side of Norwood, and extending
about a mile and a half along the Brighton road
from Brixton Hill towards Croydon, is the village
of Streatham, about which we must write somewhat briefly, as we must not travel too far afield
from the metropolis. It is a large, rambling district, occupying for the most part high ground,
with a good deal of open heath still unenclosed.
It abounds in mansions encompassed by wellwooded grounds.
At the time of the Domesday survey Streatham
was divided into several manors, the chief of
which, called Totinges, which included the hamlet
of Tooting, was held by the Abbot of St. Mary de
Bec, and hence came to be known as TootingBec. From that period till the time of the "dissolution" of religious houses, it changed ownership
on several occasions. In 1553 it was sold to John
Dudley, Earl of Warwick, and half a century later
it was purchased by Sir Giles Howland. Elizabeth,
daughter and heiress of John Howland, conveyed
the property, by marriage, in 1695, to Wriothesley,
Marquis of Tavistock, afterwards third Duke of
Bedford, and Baron Howland of Streatham. The
marriage ceremony was performed by Bishop
Burnet, at Streatham House, Lord Wriothesley
being only fifteen years old. Francis, fifth Duke
of Bedford, conveyed the mansion to his brother,
Lord William Russell, who was murdered by his
Swiss valet, Courvoisier. (fn. 8) Lord William made the
old house his residence, but about the close of the
last century conveyed it to the Earl of Coventry,
by whom it was pulled down, a more modern
mansion being erected in its place.
There are at Streatham mineral springs which,
as Aubrey informs us, were discovered about fourteen years before he wrote (A.D. 1659). They
were first noticed in consequence of the ground
giving way while the horses were ploughing in the
field where they were situated. Persons afterwards
employed in weeding in dry weather, it appears,
drank some of the water, and found it purgative.
The owner of the field at first forbade people to
take the water; but before the end of the reign of
Charles II. it came into common use. Lysons
says that in his time (1810) the Streatham water
was sent in large quantities to some of the London
hospitals. The well still exists, but its fame has
departed.
On the high road between the villages of
Streatham and Tooting, somewhat less than a
century ago, stood a turnpike gate, which was the
scene of an amusing escapade, arising out of the
convivial habits of Lord Thurlow. The Lord
Chancellor had been dining with Mr. Jenkinson
(afterwards Lord Liverpool) at Addiscombe, his
seat near Croydon, together with Dundas, and the
younger Pitt, then Chancellor of the Exchequer.
On their return late in the evening on horseback,
they found the gate open, and as they had no
servant with them, and were all more or less
"merry" with wine, they rode through without
staying to pay the toll. The gatekeeper, aroused
by the sound of their horse-hoofs as they galloped
through, sprang up, rushed out into the road, and
fired a blunderbuss after them, but fortunately
without effect. He took them, no doubt, for a
gang of highwaymen who had been committing
robberies along the road. The story got about,
much to the amusement of the quidnuncs of
"Brooks's" and "White's" clubs; and it was afterwards celebrated in the "Rolliad," the author of
which poem writes, alluding to Pitt—
"How, as he wandered darkling o'er the plain,
His reason drowned in Jenkinson's champagne,
A rustic's hand, but righteous fate withstood,
Had shed a Premier's for a robber's blood."
But Streatham, perhaps, has chiefly derived its
celebrity from Dr. Johnson's connection with it.
Streatham Place was the residence of Henry Thrale,
the opulent brewer of Southwark, to whom we
have already introduced the reader, (fn. 9) when Johnson
was first presented to him by his friend Murphy,
in 1764; and during Thrale's life Streatham Place
was to Johnson a second home. Johnson did not
become an inmate or constant guest at Mr. Thrale's
house here till about 1766, when his constitution
seemed to be giving way, and he was visited by
fits of deep and gloomy melancholy, which Mrs.
Thrale (afterwards Mrs. Piozzi), with her wonted
vivacity and cheerfulness, did her best to dispel.
An apartment was fitted up for him; a knife and
fork were constantly laid for him; companions
and friends were invited from London without stint,
to entertain him and to be entertained by him.
His favourite strolling-place in the grounds was
known as Dr. Johnson's Walk. The summer-house
in the garden was one of the doctor's favourite
resorts, when on a visit to his kind and hospitable
friends. Here he made many pious meditations
and resolutions; among the latter may be mentioned one which still exists in his own handwriting, dated as late as 1781, "To pass eight
hours every day in some serious employment."
As Mrs. Piozzi herself tells us, in her "Johnsoniana," "Dr. Johnson would here spend the
middle days of the week, returning to his household
near Fleet Street every Saturday, to give them three
good dinners and his company, before he came
back to us on the Monday night," thus reversing
the process of our own day, which usually takes
hard-working people into the suburbs from Saturday
till Monday. In the drawing-room at Streatham
he revelled in the freedom of his discourse, released,
as he doubtless felt himself, from the restraints of
the clubs and coffee-houses of Covent Garden. It
was here, for instance, that, when asked somewhat
abruptly by a silly young fellow, whether he would
recommend him to marry, he set him down with the
quick reply, "Sir, I would advise no man to marry
who is not likely to propagate understanding."
Of Mrs. Piozzi (Mrs. Thrale), whose name is
destined always to shine in the world of literature
as a "queen of society," we have already spoken
at some length in the chapter above referred to;
but a few words more about her may not be out
of place here. "Mrs. Thrale always appeared to
me," writes Sir N. W. Wraxall, in his "Historical
Memoirs," "to possess at least as much information
and a mind as cultivated as Mrs. Montagu, and
even more wit; but she did not descend among
men from such an eminence, and she talked much
more, as well as more unguardedly, upon every
subject. She was the provider and conductress of
Dr. Johnson, who lived almost entirely under her
roof, . . . . . both in town and at Streatham.
He did not, however, spare her more than other
women in his attacks, if she courted or provoked
his animadversion." "I cannot withhold from Mrs.
Thrale," says Dr. Johnson, "the praise of being
the author of that admirable poem, 'The Three
Warnings.'" The long and constant hospitality of
Mr. and Mrs. Thrale, at their house at Streatham,
to Dr. Johnson, extended over almost the last
twenty years of his life.
Miss Thrale, Johnson's "Queeny," was among
those who sat by the learned doctor's death-bed, in
spite of the differences which had arisen between
him and her mother, on account of her second
marriage. Baretti, who acted for about ten years
as teacher of Italian to the daughters of Mrs.
Thrale, on the recommendation of Dr. Johnson,
afterwards assailed that lady's memory most ungratefully.
LORD THURLOW'S HOUSE, KNIGHT'S HILL.
Hung up in the library at Mrs. Piozzi's house
was a series of portraits of literary characters,
painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, including those
of Garrick, Goldsmith, Dr. C. Burney, Edmund
Burke, Lord Lyttelton, Mrs. Piozzi herself and
her daughter, and, of course, Dr. Johnson. This
gallery of portraits was sold in 1816, when they
fetched various prices, ranging from £80 up to
£378, at which price the burly doctor himself was
knocked down. They would easily fetch four
times that price now-a-days. An odd volume of
"Saurin on the Bible," with a memorandum by
Dr. Johnson on the title-page, and some manuscript notes by Mrs. Piozzi, fetched no less than
£42 in a sale of Mrs. Piozzi's effects at Brighton,
in 1857. The teapot which used to stand on Mrs.
Piozzi's table, and from which Dr. Johnson drank
never-ending cups of the cheering liquid, was
bought at the same time by Mrs. Marryatt. It
held more than three quarts, and was of Oriental
porcelain, painted and gilt.
Before closing this chapter, we may state that
about the year 1870 the Magdalen Hospital was
removed hither from Blackfriars Road, where it
had existed as one of the best-known charitable
institutions in London for upwards of a century.
We shall have more to say about it when we reach
Blackfriars Road on our return journey.
MRS. THRALE'S HOUSE, STREATHAM.