there about two or three and twenty young women, most of them well habited, on their knees, very busy, as if they had been weeding. I could not presently learn what the matter was; at last a young man told me that they were looking for a coal under the root of a plantain, to put under their heads that night, and they should dream who would be their husbands. It was to be found that day and hour."

In the middle of the last century the ground behind the northwest of Russell Street was occupied by a farm belonging to two old maiden sisters of the name of Capper. According to Mr. Smith, in his "Book for a Rainy Day," "They wore riding-habits and men's hats. One rode an old gray mare, and it was her spiteful delight to ride with a pair of shears after boys who were flying their kites, purposely to cut their strings; the other sister's business was to seize the clothes of the lads who trespassed on their premises to bathe."

In Bolton House, formerly the corner house of Russell Square, turning into Great Guildford Street, resided Lord Chancellor Loughborough. The residence of Sir Thomas Lawrence was on the east side of Russell Square, No. 65, four doors from that of Lord Loughborough. In this square Sir Samuel Romilly destroyed himself, in 1818. At No. 2 Bernard Street, Russell Square, resided Joseph Munden, the comedian.

No. 6 Bedford Square was for some time the residence of Lord Eldon. At that period, when the punishment of death was much more common than in the present day, it happened that a footpad had been sentenced to be hanged on account of a street robbery which he had committed close to Lord Eldon's house in this square. When the recorder subsequently presented his report to the king, all the ministers, with the exception of one, gave it as their opinion that the man should be left for execution. The king, however, observing that Lord Eldon had been silent, called upon him for his opinion, which the chancellor gave in favour of mercy. "Very well," said the king; "since his lordship, who lives in Bedford Square, thinks there is no great harm in committing robberies there, the poor fellow shall not be hanged." In Store Street, Bedford Square, the celebrated actor, Thomas King, breathed his last in December, 1805.

Before quitting this neighbourhood, let us not omit to mention that in Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, lived John George Morland and Richard Wilson, the painters, and that in Buckingham Street, Fitzroy Square, John Flaxman, the sculptor, breathed his last. Let us not forget also the residence of the delightful actor, Jack Bannister, who lived and died in Gower Street. A strange superstition had impressed itself on his mind that he should die at the age of sixty-five, the number cor

responding with that of his house in Gower Street. He survived, however, till his seventy-seventh year.

In Gower Street, Lord Eldon lived for thirteen years, and here also resided John Adolphus, the historian, and Harley, the comedian.

CHAPTER VII.

CHEAPSIDE.

Cheapside at an Early Period Called the "Crown Field" Tournaments Held There- Persons Executed at the Standard in Cheapside "Evil May-day"- Elizabeth's Coronation Procession - The Cross-The Conduit - Celebrated Residents in Cheapside - Streets in the Vicinity — Mermaid Tavern Guildhall Entertainments

Trial-scenes, and

There - St. Mary-le-Bow-" Crown Seld"- Watling Street - Goldsmiths' and Coachmakers' Hall.

This

LET us retrace our steps into Cheapside. celebrated street, which derives its name from chepe," a market, was in the middle of the thirteenth century an open space, called the "Crown Field," from the Crown Inn, which stood at the east end of it. In the reign of Edward the Fourth the sign of the Crown in Cheapside was kept by one Walter Walker, who happened to observe in joke that he intended to make his son "heir to the crown." The words reached the jealous ears of royalty. The foolish equivoque was construed into the crime of high treason, and the man was hanged opposite to his own door.

In the days of our Norman sovereigns, when Cheapside was still the "Crown Field," it shared

with Smithfield the honour of witnessing those gorgeous tournaments of which the old chroniclers have bequeathed us such vivid descriptions. There is, in fact, no street in London more intimately associated with the romantic history of the past. Here, in 1329, between Wood Street and Queen Street, Edward the Third held a solemn tournament in honour of the French ambassadors; the street being covered with sand to prevent the horses from slipping, while across it ran a scaffold, richly decorated, in which sat Queen Philippa and her ladies, in all the blaze of beauty and precious stones. The king, surrounded by the rank and chivalry of the land, was also present; while apart sat the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council in their scarlet robes and chains of massive gold. Unfortunately, in the midst of the tilting the gallery on which the queen and her ladies sat suddenly gave way, "whereby," writes Stow, "they were, with some shame, forced to fall down." Some injuries occurred to the knights and others who were standing close to the gallery, but happily the ladies escaped unhurt. The king, nevertheless, was so exasperated against the master-carpenter who had erected the scaffolding, that he ordered him to be forthwith led to the gallows. The queen, however, threw herself on her knees, and so pathetically pleaded to the king to save the life of the offender, that with some difficulty he consented. Philippa's reward for her