containing a more full, detailed, and faithful picture of the whole of India than any former work on the subject." Mr. Hamilton subsequently lived for a short period at No. 8 Rawstorne Street, which street divides Nos. 27 and 28 (the Crown and Sceptre) Brompton Row, opposite to

THE RED LION

(a public-house of which the peculiar and characteristic style of embellishment can scarcely escape notice). Soon after his return to his house in Brompton Row, Mr. Hamilton died there in July or August, 1828.

No. 45 BROMPTON ROW

was the residence of the ingenious Count Rumford, the early patron of Sir Humphry Davy. The Count occupied it between the years 1799 and 1802, when he finally left England for France, where he married the widow of the famous chemist, Lavoisier, and died in 1814. Count Rumford's name was Benjamin Thompson, or Thomson. He was a native of the small town of Rumford (now Concord, in New England), and obtained the rank

In

of major in the Local Militia. the war with America he rendered important services to the officers commanding the British army, and coming to England was employed by Lord George Germaine and rewarded with the rank of a provincial lieutenant-colonel, which entitled him to half-pay. In 1784 he was knighted, and officiated for a short time as one of the under-secretaries of state. He afterwards entered the service of the Emperor of Bavaria, in which he introduced various useful reforms in the civil and military departments, and for which he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and created a count. At Munich, Count Rumford began those experiments for the improvements of fire-places and the plans for the better feeding and regulation of the poor, which have rendered his name familiar to every

one

"As his own household hearth."

No. 45 was to be distinguished a few years since by peculiar projecting windows, now removed, outside of the ordinary windows-an experimental contrivance by Count Rumford, it is said, for raising the temperature of his rooms.

The same house, in 1810, was inhabited by the Rev. William Beloe, the translator of Herodotus, and the author of various works between the years 1783 and 1812. In his last publication, The Anecdotes of Literature, Mr. Beloe says, "He who has written and published not less than forty volumes, which is my case, may well congratulate himself, first, that Providence has graciously spared him. for so long a period; secondly, that sufficient health and opportunity have been afforded; and, lastly, that he has passed through a career so extended and so perilous without being seriously implicated in personal or literary hostilities." It is strange that a man who could feel thus should immediately have entered upon the composition of a work which appeared as a posthumous publication in 1817, under the title of The Sexagenarian ; or, the Recollections of a Literary Life. A copy of it, while I write this, lies before me, and contains the following note:

"Dr. Parr branded Beloe as an ingrate and a slanderer. He says, 'The

worthy and enlightened Archdeacon Nares disdained to have any concern in this infamous work.' The Rev. Mr. Rennell, of Kensington, could know but little of Beloe, but, having read his slanderous book, Mr. R., who is a sound scholar, an orthodox clergymau, and a most animated writer, would have done well not to have written a sort of postscript. From motives of regard and respect for Beloe's amiable widow, Dr. Parr abstained from refuting B.'s wicked falsehoods; but Dr. Butler, of Shrewsbury, repelled them very ably in the Monthly Review."

At No. 46 Brompton Row, Mr. John Reeve, an exceedingly popular low comedian, died, on the 24th of January, 1838, at the early age of forty. Social habits led to habits of intemperance, and poor John was the Bottle Imp of every theatre he ever played in. "The last time I saw him," says Mr. Bunn, in his Journal of the Stage," he was posting at a rapid rate to a City dinner, and, on his drawing up to chat, I said, 'Well, Reeve, how do you find yourself to-day?' And he returned for answer, The lord-mayor finds me to-day!'"

BROMPTON GROVE commences on the south, or left-hand side of the main Fulham road, immediately beyond the Red Lion (before mentioned as opposite to 28 Brompton Row), and continues to the Bunch of Grapes public-house, which was pulled down in August, and rebuilt in September, 1844, opposite to No. 54 Brompton Row, and in the wall of which public-house was placed a stone, with "YEOMANS' Row, 1767," engraved upon it,-the name of a street leading to the "Grange," and, in 1794, the address of Michael Novosielski, the architect of the Italian Opera House. In that year he exhibited, in the Royal Academy, three architectural designs, viz,—

"558. Elevation of the Opera House, Haymarket;

"661. Section of the New Concert Room at the Haymarket; and

"663. Ceiling of the New Concert Room at the Opera House."

But of Novosielski and the Grange more hereafter.

Brompton Grove now consists of two rows of houses, standing a little way back from the main road, and between which rows there was a green space (1811), now occupied by

shops, which range close to the footway, and have an unfinished street, called Grove Place, like the stand of the letter upset, interrupting the centre of their frontage.

Upper Brompton Grove, or that division of the Grove nearest London, consists of seven houses; No. 4 being the present abode of Major Shadwell Clerke, who has reflected literary lustre upon the "United service," by the able and judicious manner in which he conducted for so many years the periodical journal distinguished by that name.

Lower Brompton Grove consists of three houses only; numbered 8, 9, and 10: the 11 of former days being of superior size, and known as "Grove House." The 12, which stands a considerable way behind it, as the Hermitage," and the 13, as the "House next to the Bunch of Grapes," all of which, except No. 8, claim a passing remark.

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In No. 9, where he had long resided, died, on the 12th of August, 1842, Mr. John Sidney Hawkins, at the age of 85. He was the eldest son of Sir John Hawkins, the wellknown author of the History of Music, and one of the biographers of Dr. Johnson. Mr. Hawkins was brother of Letitia Matilda Hawkins, the popular authoress, and a lady of whom the elder D'Israeli once remarked, that she was "the redeeming genius of her family." Mr. Hawkins, however, was an antiquary of considerable learning, research, and industry; but his temper was sour and jealous, and, throughout his whole and long literary career, from 1782 to 1814, he appears to have been embroiled in triffing disputes and immaterial vindications of his father or himself.

No. 10 Brompton Grove was the residence of James Petit Andrews, Esq., younger brother of Sir Joseph Andrews, Bart., and one of the magistrates of Queen Square Police Office; a gentleman remarkable for his humane feelings as well as his literary taste. His exertions, following up those of Jonas Hanway, were the occasion of procuring an act of parliament in favour of chimney-sweep apprentices. Mr. Andrews was the author of a volume of ancient and modern anecdotes in 1789, to which a supplemental volume appeared the

following year. He also published a History of Great Britain, connected with the Chronology of Europe;* and a continuation of Henry's History of Great Britain:† soon after the appearance of which he died, on the 6th of August, 1797.

GROVE HOUSE

(called, in 1809 and and 1810, as already mentioned, No. 11 Brompton Grove), was, for many years, the residence of Sir John Macpherson, Bart.; and here he died, at an advanced age, on the 12th of January, 1821.

In 1781 he was appointed Member of the Supreme Council of Bengal, and, when proceeding to the East Indies, in the Valentine, Indiaman, distinguished himself in an action with the French fleet in Praya Bay. Sir John, who was a very large man, to encourage the sailors to stand to their guns, promised and paid them from his own pocket five guineas a-man, which, coupled with his bravery during the action, so pleased the seaman, that one of them swore "his soul must be as big as his body," and the jokes occasioned by this burst of feeling terminated only with Sir John Macpherson's life. "Fine soles! -soles, a match for Macpherson's!" was a Brompton fishmonger's greeting to Sir John, &c. In the neighbourhood of Brompton he was known by the sobriquet of "the Gentle Giant," from his usually riding a very small pony, flourishing in the most determined manner a huge oak stick over the little animal's head, but, of course, never touching it with his club.

Upon the after-dinner conversation at Grove House of Mr. Hugh Boyd, rests chiefly that gentleman's claim to be considered as one of the

2 vols. 4to. 1795.

many authors of Junius. His host, having temporarily retired from table, Boyd's words were, "that Sir John Macpherson little knew he was entertaining in his mansion a political writer, whose sentiments were once the occasion of a chivalrous appeal from Sir John to arms,"-immediately adding, "I am the author of Junius." The will of Sir John Macpherson is a remarkable document, and contains the following tribute to the character of George IV. :

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"I conclude this, my last will and testament, in expressing my early and unalterable admiration of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, the truly glorious reigning prince of the British empire; and I request my executors to wait upon his royal highness immediately after my decease, and to state to him, as I do now, that I have bequeathed to his royal highness my celebrated antique statue of Minerva, which he often admired, with any one of my antique rings that would please his royal highness. I likewise request you to assure his royal highness that I will leave him certain papers, which prove to a demonstration that the glorious system which he has realised for his country and the world, in his difficult reign of eight years, was the early system of his heart and his ambition."

The large room on the east side of Grove House, which was used as the drawing-room, and measures thirtytwo feet by eighteen, was built by Sir John Macpherson for the purpose of entertaining the Prince-Regent.

Grove House was afterwards occupied by Mr. Wilberforce, who, in his diary of the 2d of July, 1823, notes, "Took possession of our new house at Brompton.

No. 13 BROMPTON GROVE, between Grove House and the Grapes public-house, and was taken down in December, and, in June 1844, when sketched, occupied by a stone-mason, Mr. Banim lodged from May 1822 to October 1824. While residing here, he was engaged in contributing to and editing a short-lived weekly paper, entitled the Literary Register, the first number of which appeared on the 6th of July, 1822, and which publication terminated with the forty-fourth, on the 3d of May, 1823, when Banim devoted his attention to preparing the Tales of

the O'Hara Family for the press. It is a remarkable local coincidence, that Gerald Griffin, who

"To his own mind had lived a mystery,"

the contemporary rival of Banim, as an Irish novelist and dramatist, should have immediately succeeded him in the tenancy of "13 Brompton Grove," as this house was sometimes called.

"About this period (1825) he [Griffin] took quiet, retired lodgings, at a house at Brompton, now a stone-mason's, close by Hermitage Laue, which separated it from the then residence of the editor of the Literary Gazette, and a literary intercourse rather than a personal intimacy, though of a most agreeable nature, grew up between them."

On the 10th of November, 1824, Griffin, writing to his brother, commences a letter full of literary gossip with,

"Since my last I have visited Mr. J several times. The last time, he wished me to dine with him, which I happened not to be able to do; and was very sorry for it, for his acquaintance is to me a matter of great importance, not only from the engine he wields- and a formidable one it is, being the most widely circulated journal in Europe-but, also, because he is acquainted with all the principal literary characters of the day, and a very pleasant kind of man."

To the honest support of the Literary Gazette at this critical period in Griffin's life may be ascribed the struggle which he made for fame and fortune through the blind path of literary distinction. He came a raw Irish lad to the metropolis, with indistinct visions of celebrity floating through his poetical mind; or, as he candidly confesses himself,

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A young gentleman, totally unknown, even to a single family in London, with a few pounds in one pocket and a brace of tragedies in the other, supposing that the one will set him up before the others are exhausted," which, he admits, "is not a very novel, but a very laughable, delusion."

Banim's kindness-his sympathy, indeed, for Griffin, deserves notice.

"I cannot tell you here," writes the latter, "the many, many instances in which Banim has shewn his friendship

since I wrote last; let it suffice to say, that he is the sincerest, heartiest, most disinterested being that breathes. His fireside is the only one where I enjoy any thing like social life or home. I go out (to Brompton Grove) occasionally in an evening, and talk or read for some hours, or have a bed, and leave next day."

Again, in a letter dated 31st of March, 1824, Griffin says:

"What would I have done if I had not found Banim? I should have instantly despaired on ****'s treatment of me. I should never be tired of talking about and thinking of Banim. Mark me! he is a man, the only one I have met since I left Ireland, almost. We walked over Hyde Park together on St. Patrick's Day, and renewed our home recollections by gathering shamrocks, and placing them in our hats, even under the eye of John Bull."

MICHAEL'S PLACE, on the same side of the way with the Bunch of Grapes, is railed off from the main Fulham road, although a public footpath admits the passenger as far as No. 14. It consists of forty-four houses, and was a building speculation of Michael Novosielski, already mentioned, whose Christian name it retains, and was commenced by him in 1786. But the shells of his houses for many years remained unfinished, and in 1811, the two last houses (Nos. 43 and 44) of Michael's Place were not built. Novosielski died at Ramsgate, in 1795; and his widow, for some years after his death, occupied No. 13.

to be recognised by its bay-windows, was, for several years, the residence of the Rev. Dr. Croly, now rector of St. Stephen's, Walbrook, distinguished in the pulpit by his eloquence, admired as a writer in almost every walk of English literature, and respected and beloved by those who know him. Croly's fame must live and die with our language, which he has grasped with an unrivalled command.

BROMPTON SQUARE is opposite to the commencement of Michael's Place, to which it will be necessary to return, after a visit to the square.

At No. 6 has lived, since 1840, Mr. John Baldwin Buckstone, an actor-author, or an author-actor, so well known and esteemed by the public, that his portraiture was long since enshrined in page 720 of the fourteenth volume of REGINA (December 1836), among the literary characters of the day.

No. 21 was, between the years 1829 and 1833, the residence of Spagnoletti, the leader of the Opera band. He was succeeded in the tenancy by Mrs. Chatterly, a lively and accomplished actress, and who has continued to occupy the same house since her marriage with Mr. Francis Place, whose portrait may be found at page 427 of the thirteenth volume of REGINA (April, 1836).

Nos. 22, 23, 24 BROMPTON SQUARE.

At No. 22, George Colman the younger died on the 26th of October, 1836, at the age of 74, having, about