residents were the Rev. W. Beloe, the translator of hideously distorted. His face is as pale as that of Herodotus; and the Earl of Clanricarde. a corpse, and wrinkled to a frightful degree. His eyes have an odd glassy stare, quite peculiar to them. His hair, thickly powdered and pomatumed, hangs down his shoulders on each side as straight as a pound of tallow candles. His conversation, however, soon makes you forget his ugliness and infirmities. There is a poignancy without effort in all that he says, which reminds me a little of the character which the wits of Johnson's circle give of Beauclerk. . . . He told several stories about the political men of France, not of any great value in themselves; but his way of telling them was beyond all praise-concise, pointed, and delicately satirical. . . . I could not help breaking out into admiration of his talent for relating anecdotes. Lady Holland said that he had been considered for nearly forty years as the best teller of a story in Europe." Another resident in Kensington Square, during the early part of the present century, was Prince de Talleyrand, at one time Bishop of Autun, in France, and subsequently Ambassador-Extraordinary for that country to the Court of St. James's. Lord Palmerston used to declare that he was "exceedingly quiet and courteous, but he had a strange versatility not revealed to the world at large." When eighty years of age, and extremely lame, he still was fond of sharing the amusements of the young, and his smile was then so benign as quite to discredit the "sarcastic sneer" for which he was famous. "One night at the Duchess of Gramont's," writes Lady Clementina Davies, in her "Recollections of Society," "a game of forfeits was proposed. The duchess joined in the game, and lost her king. She asked how she could get it back. She was told she must ask some gentleman in the room to take a tour de valse with her, and she invited the lame and aged diplomatist to dance with her. He smiled, and instantly rose to comply. Several young men offered to take his place, but neither he nor the gay little duchess would allow of this, and Talleyrand seemed able to perform his share in the valse, and to be pleased with the exertion. He remained with his partner, and conversed with her in a style of brilliant animation. When Louis XVIII. was restored to the French throne, the sage minister said to him, 'Now, sir, as a king of the French people, you must learn to forget!' The Bourbons might have fared better could they have taken this wise counsel !" Lady Clementina Davies, who lived on terms of intimacy with the Prince, declares that it is quite an error to suppose that he was a mere political hypocrite, or that he transferred his services from one sovereign to another with reckless indifference; but that, on the contrary, his only motive was a patriotic desire to advance the interests of his country. He was shamefully used by his parents on account of his club-foot; he was deprived of all his rights as the eldest son, and forced against his will to become a priest. In spite of his cynicism, the great diplomatist was a remarkably pleasanttempered man, full of kindness to children, and possessing conversational powers of the highest orders. Talleyrand, in the year 1831, is thus described by Macaulay among the guests he met at Holland House" He is certainly the greatest curiosity that I ever fell in with. His head is sunk down between two high shoulders. One of his feet is In this square, also, resided James Mill, the historian of British India, and father of Mr. John Stuart Mill, M.P., the political economist. He died in 1836, and was buried in the parish church. Here, too, lived for some years the Rev. J. R. Green, author of "The Making of England," and of other works. He died in 1883. Part of the western side of the square is occupied by the front of the Kensington Proprietary Grammar School; and three or four of the largest mansions near the south-west angle form now the Convent of the Dames de Sacré Coeur, on whose garden a handsome Roman Catholic church, and also a convent chapel, have been built. It is in Kensington Square that Thackeray, in his "Esmond," lays the scene which presents us with James Stuart, "the Prince" from Saint Germains, as lodging, and passing for the time as Lord Castlewood, holding himself in readiness for action when the death of Queen Anne was expected. He pictures the Prince walking restlessly upon "the Mall" at Kensington. The "little house in Kensington Square" figures from first to last in the above-mentioned work as the residence of Lady Castlewood and of Beatrix Esmond, and is the centre at once of love-making and of political plots, in the interest of the exiled Stuarts. About the middle of the High Street stands Kensington Church, dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. The present fabric dates only from the year 1869, having replaced an older structure. It was built from the designs of Sir Gilbert Scott, and has about it a degree of architectural dignity which befits the importance of the parish as the "Old Court Suburb," the abode of royalty, and a quarter inhabited by many wealthy and aristocratic families. Kensington.] THE OLD PARISH CHURCH. The style of design is that which was in vogue towards the close of the thirteenth century, and known as the Decorated, though it is freely adapted to present uses. It consists of a large nave and chancel, each with aisles, and additional aisles at the eastern part of the nave, which at that part, consequently, has double aisles on each side. The whole is of very lofty proportions, with clerestory both to nave and chancel. The tower and spire, which are on a considerable scale, are at the north-east angle, and connected with the chancel by an extra aisle, which contains the organ. The cost of the building was nearly £50,000, towards which Her Majesty the Queen gave £200, and the late vicar of the parish, Archdeacon Sinclair, made a donation of £1,000. The old parish church of St. Mary's, though a plain and unpretending edifice, which Bishop Blomfield used to designate the ugliest in his diocese, was an interesting structure, not only on account of the numerous monuments which it contained, but far more on account of the historical reminiscences connected with it. What with partial rebuildings and wholesale repairs, it had been altered a dozen times in less than two centuries. It-superseded a previous building of which little or nothing is recorded. It is more than probable that the ancient parish church of Kensington stood nearly on the spot in Holland Street now occupied by the church of the Carmelite Fathers, and opposite the vicarage. At all events, it stood a little to the north of the parish church of subsequent centuries, and not far from the Manor House, to which the vicarage is a successor; through there is a tradition, but unconfirmed, that the original parish church stood some distance to the north, near the Gravel Pits, and was removed hither at the time of the Conquest. The road, by its very narrowness and curvings, shows that it is an ancient way, and it is still traditionally called, or at all events was called within the memory of the present generation, the "Parson's Yard." It will not be a little singular if hereafter it should be discovered that the Carmelites have been building on the old foundations. The resolution to build this church was adopted by the vestry in 1696, and among the contributors were William III. and Queen Mary, as well as the Princess Anne. The king and queen not only subscribed to the building fund, but presented the reading-desk and pulpit, which had crowns carved upon them, with the initials "W." and "M. R." A pew, curtained round in the fashion of old times, was, in consequence, set apart for the royal family, and long continued to be occupied by residents in Kensington Palace, 129 amongst whom were the Duke and Duchess of Kent and the late Duke of Cambridge. It was in this church that the Duchess of Kent returned thanks after the birth of Queen Victoria. 66 Here were monuments to Edward, eighth Earl of Warwick and Holland, who died in 1759; and to the three Colmans: " Francis Colman, some time British Minister to the Court of Florence; his son, George, "the Elder," and his grandson, George, "the Younger." The two latter wrote several comedies, and were proprietors of the Haymarket Theatre. Here also was buried one Sir Manhood Penruddock, who was "slain at Notting Wood, in fight, in the year 1608." At that time the nation was at peace; the "fight" which is recorded in the parish register probably means a "duel." Two interesting monuments by Chantrey, which were erected in the old parish church, have been replaced in the new edifice: the one in memory of a former vicar, Dr. T. Rennell; the other to a Peninsular officer, Colonel Hutchins, a native of Earl's Court. Near one of the entrances to the church was a tablet recording a reputed donation of lands to the parish by Oliver Cromwell, of which Lysons states: An anonymous benefactor, in 1652, gave some land at Kensington Gravel-pits, on which was formerly a malthouse. This is called Cromwell's gift, and a tradition has prevailed that is was given by Oliver Cromwell; but the parish have no evidence to ascertain it.” The peal of bells was cast by Janeway, of Chelsea, in 1772. In the parish books are several entries of sums paid for ringing the church bells on public occasions since the Revolution. The Battle of the Boyne, for instance, is thus recorded: "May 2, 1690.-Paid William Reynolds for the ringers on that day the news came of the victory gained by his Majesty at and near the Boyne, 12S." And again, the Battle of Blenheim is thus noted: "1704.-Paid Mr. Jackman for a barrel of beer for the victory over the French and Bavarians, 15s." Another entry runs as follows: "For Limerick's being taken, and 'twas false," (sic): on this occasion the ringers were contented with eighteen pence. Various sums are mentioned as having been paid on the arrival of King William and his Queen, such as became the royal parish, "kingly Kensington." In Murray's "Environs of London" it is stated that this church has had its "Vicar of Bray," in one Thomas Hodges, collated to the living by Archbishop Juxon. He kept his preferment during the Civil War and interregnum, by joining alternately with either party Although a frequent preacher before the Long Parliament, and one of the Assembly of Divines, he was made Dean of Hereford after the Restora- mentioned above. In a garden at the back of his tion, but continued Vicar of Kensington. Amongst the many interesting associations of the old church are several of the present century. Mr. Wilberforce, who, as we have stated, resided at Kensington Gore, is still remembered by many of the old inhabitants as sitting in the pew appropriated to the Holland House family. George Canning, who resided at Gloucester Lodge, might often be seen sitting in the royal pew; Coke, of Norfolk, the eminent agriculturist, had a pew here, which he regularly occupied. Professor Nassau W. Senior, the political economist, although living so far distant as Hyde Park Gate, might often be seen, in company with the late Mr. Thackeray, attending the early service; but neither of these eminent writers, it is said, rented a pew in the church. Lord Macaulay, too, whilst living at Holly Lodge, Campden Hill, regularly attended here during the last two summers of his life. To the churchyard, in 1814, was added a new cemetery, where was previously an avenue of elms, through which ran the original approach from the town to Campden House. In the churchyard is a monument to Mrs. Elizabeth Inchbald, who is truthfully and touchingly described on it as a beauty, a virtue, a player, and authoress of 'A Simple Story." She commenced her career as an actress in 1777, on the York circuit, but quitted the stage in 1789, continuing, however, for many years to entertain the public in the character of a dramatic author. Mrs. Inchbald died on the 1st of March, 1821, as we have stated above, at old Kensington House. The following instances of longevity are to be found in the registers of burials:-1786, Margaret Smart, aged 103; 1804, Jane Hartwell, from Methwold's Almshouses, aged 100; 1807, William Griffiths, of the Gravel-pits, aged 103. The present vicarage, built about 1774, superseded a humble structure little more than a cottage with latticed windows. Returning again into the High Street, we notice, a few yards beyond the church, a curious-looking brick building, of two storeys, above which is a square tower, probably intended to hold a bell; this was the old Kensington Charity School, built by Sir John Vanbrugh. It is now a savings'-bank, with a new school-room by the side of it. Adjoining this building is the Vestry Hall, which has been recently erected in the Jacobean style. A new Town Hall adjoining it was built in 1879-80. On the opposite side of the way, in a house which stood on the site of the Metropolitan Railway Station, lived for some years the celebrated political writer, William Cobbett, whom we have house, and also at a farm which he possessed at the same time at Barn-Elms, Cobbett cultivated his Indian corn, his American forest-trees, his pigs, poultry, and butchers' meat, all which he pronounced to be the best that were ever beheld; but the aristocratic suburb, we are told, did not prove a congenial soil, and he quitted it a bankrupt. He entered Parliament as member for Oldham, but did not live long afterwards, dying in 1835. Campden House-which stands on the western side of Church Street, in its own grounds-is mentioned in the "New View of London," published in 1708, among the noble palaces belonging to Her Majesty, Queen Anne, "for the Court to reside in at pleasure." But this statement is not quite true. The house never absolutely belonged to royalty. It was the residence of Baptist Hicks, Viscount Campden, after whom it was called, and who was the founder of Hicks's Hall, in Clerkenwell; * and it caused his name to be given to the neighbourhood as Campden Hill. The mansion, which underwent considerable alterations in its exterior at the beginning of the present century, was spacious and picturesque, with its bay windows and turrets; several of the rooms had ceilings richly worked in stucco, and chimney-cases much ornamented. It was built about the year 1612, for Sir Baptist Hicks, whose arms (with that date), and those of his sons-in-law, Edward Lord Noel and Sir Charles Morison, figured in one of the windows. In the great dining-room it is said that Charles II. more than once supped with Lord Campden. It has fine wainscoat panels, and the ceiling was divided into compartments, in which figured the arms of the family, and their alliances. The house was rented from the Noel family by the Princess of Denmark (afterwards Queen Anne), who resided there about five years with her son, the Duke of Gloucester; and about that time, according to Lysons, the adjoining house, afterwards the residence of Mrs. Pitt, is said to have been built for the accommodation of Her Majesty's household. The amusements and pursuits of the Duke of Gloucester, who died in early boyhood, were principally of a military cast, for he is said to have formed a regiment of his youthful companions, chiefly from Kensington, who seem to have been upon constant duty at Campden House. At the beginning of the eighteenth century Campden House was in the occupation of the Dowager Countess of Burlington and her son, Richard Boyle, afterwards Earl, famous for his taste in the See Vol. II., p. 322. Kensington.] THE OBSERVATORY AT CAMPDEN HILL. fine arts. The house was afterwards held by the Noels, who parted with it to Nicholas Lechmere, the politician, who was created Lord Lechmere, and who resided here for several years. His lordship, probably, is now best remembered by the place he occupies in Gay's (or Swift's) ballad, entitled "Duke upon Duke," where, having challenged one Sir John Guise to fight a duel, he contrives to give his foe the slip "Back in the dark, by Brompton Park, He turned up through the Gore ; Towards the close of the last century the mansion became a boarding-school for ladies. George Selwyn speaks of going there to see a protégé of his, Maria Fagniani, who was held to be a very lucky person, for he and his friend Lord March (afterwards Duke of Queensberry-" Old Q.") took themselves respectively for her father, and each of them left her a fortune. She afterwards married the Marquis of Hertford.* In the Mirror for 1840, we read: “There are two dogs, carved out of stone, on the end walls of the gate or entrance, leading to Campden House, near Campden Hill, Kensington; they are pointer dogs, and very beautifully carved. The boys in the neighbour hood have done them much damage by pelting them with stones for fun, but they have stood all their knocks well—their legs are nearly worn away. From these two dogs the entrance is generally called by the inhabitants 'The Dogs,' by way of distinction. The House,' the entrance-lane to which they guard, was formerly occupied by Queen Anne; it is a plain substantial house, and now occupied as a ladies' school." Later on it was again converted into a private residence. It contained in all about thirty rooms, besides a private theatre, in which the Campden amateur artists used to perform for charitable objects. The terrace steps and parapets were extremely massive and handsome, and in the garden, which was sheltered and sunny, the wild olive is said to have flourished. A caper-tree long produced fruit here. The building was destroyed by fire in 1862, but was rebuilt immediately. At Campden Hill was the observatory of Sir James South, one of the founders of the Royal Astronomical Society. Among his working instruments here was a 7-feet transit instrument, a 4-feet transit circle, and one of the equatorials with which, between the years 1821 and 1823, he and Sir John Herschel made a catalogue of 380 double stars. It was about the year 1825 that Sir James settled See Vol. IV., p. 287. 131 at Campden Hill; but in the equipment of his observatory he appears to have been unfortunate, for one large equatorial instrument, constructed at great expense, which became the subject of a lawsuit, gave him such dissatisfaction that he ordered it to be broken up, and the parts sold by auction. Large printed placards were posted throughout the neighbourhood of Kensington, and advertisements also appeared in the daily papers, announcing that on such a day (named) a sale of an extraordinary nature would take place at the observatory. These placards, from their singular character, attracted much attention. The following is a copy : "Observatory, Campden Hill, Kensington. "To shycock toy-makers, smoke-jack makers, mock-coin makers, dealers in old metals, collectors of and dealers in artificial curiosities, and to such Fellows of the Astronomical Society as, at the meeting of that most learned and equally upright body, on the 13th of May last, were enlightened by Mr. Airy's (the Astronomer Royal) profound exposé of the mechanical incapacity of English astronomical instrument-makers of the present day :-To be sold by hand, on the premises, by Mr. M'Lelland, on Wednesday, December 21, 1842, between eleven and twelve o'clock in the forenoon, several hundred-weight of brass, gun-metal, &c., being the metal of the great equatorial instrument made for the Kensington Observatory by Messrs. Troughton and Simms; the wooden polar axis of which, by the same artists, and its botchings, cobbled up by their assistants (Mr. Airy and the Rev. R. Sheepshanks) were, in consequence of public advertisements, on the 8th of July, 1839, purchased by divers vendors of old clothes, and licensed dealers in dead cows and horses, &c., with the exception of a fragment of mahogany, specially reserved at the request of several distinguished philosophers, which, on account of the great anxiety expressed by foreign astronomers and foreign astronomical instrumentmakers, to possess when converted into snuff-boxes as a souvenir piquante of the state of the art of astronomical instrument-making in England during the nineteenth century, will, at the conclusion of the sale, be disposed of at per pound." At the hour appointed a number of marine-store dealers and other dealers in metal (some of whom had come in carts from town), with a sprinkling of astronomical instrument-makers, and scientific persons, were assembled outside Sir James South's residence, and were admitted into the grounds by a small door in the hedge close to the well-known circular building in which the equatorial instrument was erected a large beam and scales, with weights for the purpose of ascertaining the weights of the different metals. Sir James South was present during the sale. He appeared in high spirits, and conversed with the company with his accustomed urbanity. The sale not being conducted by hammer, but by hand, was a very silent proceeding, and afforded no scope for either the eloquence or ingenuity of the auctioneer. The iron portion of the instrument, consisting of bolts, screws, &c., as well as the copper part, was unmutilated. The former fetched £3, and the latter 7d. per pound. The great equatorial instrument itself-viz., the tube, circle, &c., made of brass, had been broken into numerous pieces, which were divided into several lots, so that any attempt to reunite them would most cer them to the manufacturers, and from them receive a valuable consideration for them, he therefore determined to prevent its being devoted to any such ignoble purpose, and had mutilated it so that it should be of no value to any one beyond the intrinsic value of the metal. Notwithstanding these singular proceedings, one of Sir James's "equatorials" still remained mounted in his observatory, besides a few other instruments, including a transit circle, celebrated as having formerly belonged to Mr. Groombridge, and as having been the instru ment with which the observations were made for the formation of the catalogue of circumpolar stars which bear his name. Sir James, whose contribubutions to scientific literature are well known, died here in 1867, at an advanced age. Kensington, of |