and it is to his stay at this school that the poet thus this neighbourhood a good story, which would not refers later in life :

"Soon as I enter at my country door,

My mind resumes the thread it dropt before; Thoughts, which at Hyde Park Corner I forgot, Meet and rejoin me in my pensive grot." The Alexandra Hotel, which covers the ground formerly occupied by some half-dozen of the houses in St. George's Place, is one of the most important and largest hotels in the metropolis. It was built shortly after the marriage of the Prince of Wales with the Princess Alexandra of Denmark, after whom it is named. The hotel is largely patronised by families of distinction from the country, and also by foreign notabilities, who, during their stay in London, desire to be within easy reach of the Court and the principal quarters of the West End. A few short yards westward beyond the Alexandra Hotel the roadway enters Knightsbridge, which we shall deal with in the next chapter.

gratify the pride of the head of the house of Grosvenor. "When Lord Hatherton changed his residence his servants gave him warning, as they could not, they said, go into such an unheard-of part of the world as Grosvenor Place. I can only say that I have never been in a finer house." Verily there is as much truth to-day, as there was two thousand years ago, in the old Roman satirist's line

"Maxima quæque domus servis est plena superbis." Lord Hatherton continued to reside here for many years. He had a choice gallery of paintings, which are mentioned, in some detail, by Dr. Waagen, in his work on "Art and Artists in England."

During the years 1873-76 the appearance of a great part of this street was totally changed. In place of some dozen or so houses of ordinary appearance, which formerly stood at the north end, five princely mansions have been erected, in the The old toll-gate at Hyde Park Corner, between most ornate Italian style; one of these is occuPiccadilly and Knightsbridge, considerably nar-pied by the Duke of Grafton, and another by rowed the entrance into Piccadilly at its western the Duke of Northumberland, since his expulsion end; and its removal, as we have mentioned in our from Charing Cross. Lower down is the residence account of that thoroughfare,* was a great improve- of the head of the Rothschild family. In the ment not only to Piccadilly itself, but to Knights- adjoining house lived for some time the late Earl bridge as well. Our illustration (see page 10) Stanhope (better known by his courtesy title of shows the auctioneer in the act of brandishing his Lord Mahon), the historian and essayist, author hammer, and exclaiming, de more, "Once, twice, of a "History of the War of the Succession in thrice! Going, going, gone!" to the great satis- Spain," "A History of England, from the Peace faction, no doubt, of the speculative contractor of Utrecht," and other works. Lord Stanhope, who purchased the old materials in order to mend who was many years President of the Society of the roads. Antiquaries, was grandson of the inventor of the Stanhope printing-press.

Grosvenor Place forms the eastern boundary of Belgravia, extending southward from St. George's At the southern end, in Hobart Place, formerly Hospital, and overlooking the gardens of Bucking- Grosvenor Street West, was an inn called "The ham Palace, of which we have already spoken. It Feathers," about which a good story is told by Mr. was till recently described as "a pleasant row of J. Larwood in his "History of Sign-boards: "houses," mostly built during the Grenville Adminis-"A lodge of Odd Fellows was held at this house, tration, in the early part of the present century. "When George III. was adding a portion of the Green Park to the new garden at Buckingham House," says Mr. Peter Cunningham, quoting from Walpole's "George III.," "the fields on the opposite side of the road were to be sold, at the price of £20,000. This sum Grenville refused to issue from the Treasury. The ground was consequently leased to builders, and a new row of houses, overlooking the king in his private walks, was erected, to his great annoyance."

Lord Hatherton removed, in 1830, from Portman Square to a house in Grosvenor Place, which Macaulay terms a palace. Macaulay tells about

Sce Vol. IV., p. 290.

into the private chamber of which George Prince
of Wales one night intruded very abruptly, with a
roystering friend. The society at that moment was
celebrating some of its awful mysteries, which no
uninitiated eye might behold, and these were wit-
nessed by the profane intruders.
The only way to
repair the sacrilege was to make the Prince and his
companion 'Odd Fellows'-a title which they cer-
tainly deserved as richly as any members of the club.
The initiatory rites were quickly gone through, and
the Prince was chairman for the remainder of the
evening. In 1851 the old public-house was pulled
down, and a new gin-palace built on its site, in the
parlour of which," adds Mr. Larwood, "the chair
used by the distinguished Odd Fellow' is still
preserved, along with a portrait of his Royal High-

ness in the robes of the order." Another publichouse in Grosvenor Street perpetuated, writes Mr. J. Larwood, the well-known fable of the "Wolf and the Lamb," which was pictured by a sign representing a lion and a kid. The house was known as the "Lion and Goat."

At the bottom of Grosvenor Place, and reaching to Buckingham Palace Road, is a large triangular piece of ground, intersected by a part of Ebury Street, and covered with lofty and handsomelyconstructed houses, known respectively as Grosvenor Gardens and Belgrave Mansions. On the east side of this triangular plot is Arabella Row, one side of which is occupied by the royal stables of Buckingham Palace, which we have already described.* This row was once, not so very long ago, well tenanted. Among others, here lived Lord Erskine, after he had ceased to hold the seals as Lord Chancellor. His lordship, who held them only a year, was not only an orator, but a wit, as the following anecdote will show :-Captain Parry was once at dinner in his company, when Lord Erskine asked him what he and his crew lived upon in the Frozen Sea. Parry said that they lived upon seals. "And capital things, too, seals are, if you only keep them long enough," was the reply. One of the houses in Arabella Row is the official residence of the Queen's Librarian at Windsor Castle.

At the corner of Arabella Row and Buckingham Palace Road, is a public-house, rejoicing in the once common sign of the "Bag o' Nails"-a perversion of "The Bacchanals" of Ben Jonson. "About fifty years ago," writes the author of "Tavern Anecdotes," in 1825, "the original sign might have been seen at the front of the house; it was a Satyr of the Woods, with a group of 'jolly dogs,' ycleped Bacchanals. But the Satyr having been painted black, and with cloven feet, it was called by the common people 'The Devil;' while the Bacchanalian revellers were transmuted, by a comic process, into the 'Bag of Nails.'

In Grosvenor Row, a thoroughfare which has disappeared in the march of modern improvements that have recently taken place in this neighbourhood, was another inn, "The Three Compasses," well known as a starting-point for the Pimlico omnibuses. It was generally known as the "Goat and Compasses"-possibly a corruption of the text, "God encompasseth us;" though Mr. P. Cunningham sees in it a reproduction of the arms of the Wine Coopers' Company, as they appear on a vault in the Church of S. Maria di Capitolo, at

Sce Vol. IV., p. 69.

9

Mr.

Cologne-a shield, with a pair of compasses, an axe, and a dray, or truck, with goats for supporters. "In a country like England, dealing so much at one time in Rhenish wine, a more likely origin,” he observes, "could hardly be imagined." Larwood, however, points out that possibly the "Goat" was the original sign, and that the host afterwards added the Masonic "Compasses," as is often done now.

Belgrave Square, into which we now pass, was so named after the Viscountcy of Belgrave, the second title of Earl Grosvenor before he was raised to his superior titles. It was built in the year 1825, and covers an area of about ten acres. It was designed by George Basevi, the detached mansions at the angles being the work of Hardwick, Kendall, and others. It is nearly 700 feet in length by a little over 600. The houses are uniform, except the large detached mansions at the angles. Those in the sides are adorned with Corinthian columns and capitals.

Belgrave Square has always been occupied by the heads of the highest, titled nobility, and by many foreigners of distinction. Lord Ellesmere lived here till he built Bridgewater House. Among other notabilities who have resided here may be named the first Lord Combermere, Sir Roderick Murchison, the geologist, Sir Charles Wood, afterwards Lord Halifax, and General Sir George Murray, who acted as Quartermaster-General to the British army during the Peninsular War. At the south-west corner lived for some years another distinguished General, Lord Hill, the hero of Almarez. In this square the Count de Chambord and his mother held their court, during a short visit which they paid to England in 1843. The Austrian Embassy has been for several years located in this square.

In Chapel Street, which runs from the south-east corner of Belgrave Square into Grosvenor Place, resided Mr. Richard Jones, a teacher of elocution, generally known as "Gentleman Jones," who is mentioned by Lord William Lennox, and by nearly all the writers of modern London anecdote. Here he used to have scores of pupils practising for the pulpit, the bar, or the senate. "Under his able tuition," says Lord W. Lennox, "many a reverend gentleman, who mumbled over the service, became a shining light; many an embryo lawyer, who spoke as if he had a ball of worsted in his mouth, became a great orator; and many a member of Parliament, who 'hummed and hawed,' and was unintelligible in the gallery, turned out a distinguished speaker."

Eccleston Street derives its name from Eccleston,

ture," the bequest to take effect on the death or second marriage of his wife. Lady Chantrey died in 1875, when the above legacy, which had gone on accumulating, became available for the purposes to which it was to be devoted.

On the north-west side of Belgrave Square are Wilton Crescent and Wilton Place. In the latter, which opens into Knightsbridge Road, a little westward of the Alexandra Hotel, is St. Paul's Church, which is deserving of notice, from the fact of its clergy having always been prominent leaders of the Ritualistic or extreme "high church" party. The first incumbent was the Rev. W. J. E. Bennett, who was succeeded by the Hon. and Rev. Robert Liddell, and he by Lord Russell's son-in-law, Mr. Villiers. The church, which was consecrated in 1843, is built in the Early Perpendicular style, and was erected at a cost of £11,000. It consists only of a nave and chancel, and a lofty tower crowned with eight pinnacles; the windows are filled with stained glass, and the interior is rich in ornamentation. This church has been the scene of many a strong conflict between the parishioners and the incumbent respecting the ceremonials carried on here, which culminated in one of the vestrymen, more courageous than the rest-a Mr. Westertonbringing the matter in dispute before the courts of law.

II

Connecting the south-east corner of Belgrave Square with Ebury Street, and skirting the east ends of Eaton and Chester Squares, are Upper and Lower Belgrave Streets. In the former, in 1842, the Earl of Munster committed suicide. He was the eldest son of William IV. by Mrs. Jordan. He married Miss Wyndham, one of the natural daughters of Lord Egremont, with whom he had a fortune of £40,000 or £50,000. He had the place of Constable of Windsor Castle, which was continued to him by the Queen, and he had just been appointed to the command of the troops at Plymouth, with which he was much pleased. Mr. Raikes, in his "Journal," speaks of him as "a very amiable man in private life, not without some talent, and given to study Eastern languages." As Colonel Fitz-Clarence, he had shown great bravery and energy in arresting the leaders of the Cato Street conspiracy. He was raised to a peerage on his father's accession to the throne.

Eaton Square was designed and built by Messrs. Cubitt in 1827. It was named after Eaton Hall, in Cheshire, the principal seat of the Duke of Westminster. It occupies an oblong piece of ground, and the centre is divided by roadways into six separate enclosures. No. 71 was for some time, during the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament, the official residence of the Speaker of the House of Commons. Most of the mansions, in fact, have at different times been occupied by members of one or other division of the Legislature. No. 75 was for many years the residence of the late Mr. Ralph Bernal, M.P. for Rochester, and Chairman of Committees in the House of Commons. He was a distinguished antiquary and connoisseur, and made here his superb collection of works of art, including china, armour, articles of virtu, and antiquities of every description, the sale of which, occupying thirty-two days, was one of the "events" of the season of 1855.

Between Motcomb, Lowndes, and Kinnerton Streets, all of which are on the western side of the square, is a large building, called the Pantechnicon, used of late years for storing furniture, carriages, works of art, &c. It was originally built about the year 1834, as a bazaar, and was established principally for the sale of carriages and household furniture. There was also a "wine department," consisting of a range of dry vaults for the reception and display of wines; and the bazaar contained likewise a "toy department." The building, which covered about two acres, was burnt to the ground in 1874, when a large quantity of valuable property At No. 83 lived, during the closing years of his was destroyed. The work of rebuilding was soon life, the late Lord Truro. The son of an attorney afterwards commenced, the new structure being on College Hill, in London, Thomas Wilde began erected on detached blocks, and of fire-proof life in his father's office; but having afterwards materials, so that the chances of the building being studied for the higher branch of the profession, he again destroyed in a similar way are considerably was, at the age of thirty-five, called to the bar at reduced. the Inner Temple. In 1820 he was engaged as Halkin Street, on the northern side of the one of the counsel for Queen Caroline on her square, was so called from Halkin Castle, in Flint-"trial" in the House of Lords, which, doubtless, shire, one of the seats of the ducal owner. In this brought him a handsome fee; and he is said to street is a chapel, which has been since 1866 used have had a retaining fee of 3,000 guineas in the by the Presbyterian body. The building is some- case of the British Iron Company against Mr. John what singular in shape, neither square nor oblong, Attwood. Before his accession to the Upper the end opposite the entrance being considerably House on being made Lord Chancellor, he sat wider than the other. in the House of Commons as member for Newark,