and turned aside to a harpsichord in the room, literally, he said, to let him gorge himself without being noticed. He removed him from hence, and, after giving his mother a severe lecture, obtained for him a decent allowance, and left him, when he himself quitted town, in decent lodgings, earnestly begging him to write. But he never wrote. The next news was that he was in a private madhouse, and I never saw him more.' After twenty years' confinement," adds Southey, "he recovered his senses, but not till he was dying of a consumption. The apothecary urged him to leave Sloane Street, where he had always been as kindly treated as he could be, and go into his own country, saying that his friends in Devonshire would be very glad to see him. But he hid his face, and answered, 'No, sir! They who knew me what I was shall never see me what I am.'

It remains to mention one or two celebrated men who were residents in Holborn, but in what exact locality is not known.

Milton at two different periods of his life was a resident in Holborn, and on both occasions, as was his custom, occupied houses looking upon the green fields. The first time that he resided here was in 1647, in a house which "opened backward into Lincoln's Inn Fields," and here it was that he principally employed himself in writing his virulent tirades against monarchy and Charles the First. The second occasion of his residing in Holborn

was after the Restoration of Charles the Second, when his house looked into Red Lion Fields, the site of the present Red Lion Square. After residing here a short time he removed to Jewin Street, Aldersgate Street.

From Boswell we learn that Doctor Johnson, during a part of the time he was employed in compiling his great work, the English Dictionary, was a resident in Holborn. Here, too, was born the once popular actor and poet, George Alexander Stevens; a man whose misfortunes were only equal to his misconduct, at one time the idol of a Bacchanalian club, and at another the inmate of a gaol; at one moment writing a drinking-song, and at another a religious poem. Stevens is now, perhaps, best remembered from his "Lectures on Heads," a medley of wit and nonsense, to which no other person but himself could have given the proper effect. The lecture was originally designed for Shuter, who entirely failed in the performance. Stevens, however, no sooner attempted the task himself, than it became instantly popular. His songs are now nearly forgotten; yet one or two of them are not without merit, especially the one entitled the "Wine Vault," commencing:

"Contented I am, and contented I'll be,

For what can this world more afford,

Than a lass that will sociably sit on my knee,

And a cellar as sociably stored?

My brave boys.

"My vault-door is open, descend and improve, That cask, ay, that we will try;

'Tis as rich to the taste as the lips of your love,

And as bright as her cheek to the eye,

My brave boys."

CHAPTER V.

ELY HOUSE, GRAY'S INN, THAVIE'S INN, STAPLE

INN, BARNARD'S INN.

Ely House in Its Splendour - Its Inhabitants - Protector Gloucester- Bishops of Ely - Feastings in Ely House Sir Christopher Hatton and the Bishops of Ely-Gray's Inn and Gardens - Masques Performed at Gray's Inn - Famous Masque- Celebrated Men Who Studied at Gray's Inn Thavie's Inn - - Furnival Inn-Staple Inn - Barnard's Inn - Gordon Riots.

On the north side of Holborn Hill are Ely Place and Hatton Garden; the former deriving its name from the episcopal palace of the Bishops of Ely, which stood here for nearly four centuries, and the latter from the adjoining residence of Sir Christopher Hatton, the graceful courtier and eminent statesman of the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

Ely House, in the days of its splendour, — for at one period its palace and gardens covered an area of nearly twenty acres, consisted of a spacious paved court, the approach to which was through a stately gateway. On the left side of the court was a small garden; on the right were the offices, supported by a colonnade; and, at the extremity, the noble old hall, associated in our minds with many

past scenes of revelry and splendour. To the northwest of the hall was a quadrangular cloister, and, adjoining it, a small meadow, in which stood the chapel, dedicated to St. Etheldreda, the patron saint of the Cathedral Church of Ely. The gardens of Ely House, long famous for their strawberries and roses, corresponded in size and beauty with the adjoining palace.

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Ely House was originally founded by John de Kirkeby, who, dying Bishop of Ely in 1290, bequeathed some landed property of considerable value for the purpose of erecting a suitable residence for his successors in the see. Considerable additions and improvements were made by successive prelates, and more especially by John de Hotham, Bishop of Ely in the reign of Edward the Third, till at length Ely House became one of the most magnificent mansions in the metropolis. Of the ancient building, all that now remains is the interesting chapel of St. Etheldreda, which, though it has suffered much from the lapse of ages, and has been sadly disfigured by modern improvements, still retains many traces of its pristine beauty. Its crypt also, of the same length as the chapel, and its east window, looking into Ely Place, have been deservedly admired. Evelyn, in his "Diary," more than once notices Ely Chapel. On the 14th of November, 1668, he writes: "I was invited to the consecration of that excellent person, the Dean of Ripon, Doctor Wilkins, now