account of its history is more than one man can successfully grapple with, and it is only by dividing it into parts, and describing each part separately in detail, that justice can be done to the subject as a whole. London is an aggregation of towns and villages that have little in common the one with the other. Each has its distinct history, and the west knows little or nothing of the east, and the north as little of the south. I have chosen for my subject a portion of the aggregated mass which is second to none in the interest of its associations. It has been from its proximity to the court, frequented by the ruling powers in state and general society for about two centuries. In former times society, or the "world," consisted of a small circle of persons who were almost all known to one another, and lived within this district. Society has now overflowed these limits, but they still comprehend one of the chief centres of London. Theodore Hook was in the habit of saying that London par excellence was bounded on the north by Piccadilly, on the south by Pall Mall, on the east by the Haymarket, and on the west by St. James's Street. This region, with the addition of the district to the north of Piccadilly, extending through May Fair to Hyde Park Corner, and with Hyde, the Green, and it is difficult to bring ourselves to believe, that at the beginning of the century Belgravia was a country place. The once popular writer Samuel Pratt, the author of Sympathy, in a letter, dated 1813, speaks of "a retired spot called Belgrave Place, Pimlico, the street containing hardly more than a single house." St. James's Parks, is the one with which these pages are concerned. I have drawn my facts from many sources, and have referred to almost every book published on London topography. Nearly all these works, with the exception of Strype's edition of Stow's Survey and Cunningham's Handbook, are very untrustworthy and misleading, more especially Pennant's London, which, though a favourite authority, is full of blunders. As it has been the fashion to copy Pennant, most of these mistakes have been perpetuated by succeeding writers, and, probably, some of them will never die. The woodcuts that illustrate the book are mostly delineations of places and buildings now altered or passed away, and they have been copied from contemporary engravings. They are necessarily of varied merit, but all are trustworthy records of a past that would otherwise be forgotten. It is my pleasing duty to thank those friends who have kindly assisted me in my inquiries, more especially the Rev. Scott Surtees, Rector of Sprotburgh ; Mr. W. H. Spilsbury, librarian of Lincoln's Inn; and Mr. George Buzzard, vestry clerk of St. James's parish. 'When we consider the vast amount of information, extending over so large an area, contained in this valuable work, we cannot but greatly admire its extreme accuracy. Every modern writer on London must feel the benefits he has received from it, and I gladly acknowledge how deeply I am indebted to it. |