"Go ry Wives of Windsor;" and Decker, in his comedy of "Westward Hoe," published in 1607, has twice mentioned this street. In the first passage he says, into Bucklesbury, and fetch me two ounces of pre- : served melonnes: look there be no tobacco taken in the shop when he weighs it :"-his words in the second are, "Run into Bucklesbury for two ounces of dragon-water, some spermaceti, and treacle."'* Pennant states, that he had heard Bucklesbury was noted for the great resort of ladies of fashion to purchase tea, fans, and other Indian goods, there, in the time of King William, who, in some of his letters, appeared to be angry with his Queen for visiting those shops; which, as appears from the following lines of Prior, were sometimes perverted to places of intrigue. Speaking of Hans Carvel's wife, the poet says,"She, first of all the town, was told Where newest Indian things were sold; So in a morning, without boddice, Slipt sometimes out to Mrs. Thody's, To cheapen tea, or buy a screen ;– What else could so much virtue mean?" * Moufet, in his "Health's Improvement," &c. written in Queen Elizabeth's reign, calls upon the druggists and apothecaries to decide, whether sweet smells correct pestilent air. He adds, that Bucklesbury being replete with physic, drugs, and spicery, and being perfumed, in the time of the Plague, with the pounding of spices, melting of jam, and making perfumes for others, escaped that great Plague whereof such multitudes died, that scarce any house was left unvisited. Pennant's " London," p. 444; edit. 1793. DUCK LANE, NOW DUKE STREET, WEST-SMITHFIELD. It would seem, from the following passage in one of Oldham's Satires, written about 1680, that Duck Lane, which, for many years past, has been exalted into Duke Street, was once famous for refuse book, shops; and a few of that description are still remaining there. "And so may'st thou, perchance, pass up and down, This avenue leads into Little Britain, which, also, was formerly celebrated for its booksellers. OLD BETHLEHEM, OR BETHLEM HOSPITAL, WITHOUT BISHOPSGATE. BETHLEHEM, or Bethlem Hospital, vulgarly called Bėdlam, derived its origin from a religious Community, instituted and settled" without Bishopsgate," (on the west side of the high street), by Simon Fitz-Mary, Sheriff of London, in the years 1246 and 1247.*"He In Strype's Stow, Vol. I. B. ii. pp. 94, 95, is a copy of the original deed of foundation, by which Fitz-Mary grants all his houses, land, &c. between the High Street and the great ditch, called Deep Ditch, westward, "to the church of the glorious Virgin at Bethlem, (where the same Virgin brought forth our Saviour incarnate, aud lying in the cratch, with her own milk nourished,") in free and perpetual alms, and to found there a priory for brethren and sisters, as stated above. They were to wear a Star on their copes and mantles in honour of the Star of Bethlem, and to be subject to the visitation of the Bishop of Bethlem, to whom, in token of obedience, they were to pay one mark sterling, annually at Easter. founded it," says Stow," to have beene a Priorie of Canons, with brethren and sisters; and King Edward the Third granted a protection, which I have seene, for the brethren, Milicia beatæ Mariæ de Bethlem, within the City of London, the 14 yeere of his reigne. It was an Hospitall for distracted people.-The Maior and Commonalty purchased the patronage thereof, with al the lands and tenements thereunto belonging, in the yeere 1546," from Henry the VIIIth ; at which period, the hospital and its appurtenances were valued at £404. 12s. 11d. After the City had thus obtained the patronage, this hospital was opened for the more general reception of lunatics than before; and in Edward the VIths reign, several "protections" were issued by the King in Council, to different Proctors of the establishment, authorizing them to solicit alms for the maintenance of the patients during one year.* In the 5th year of the same reign, the precinct of Bethlem was annexed to the parish of St. Botolph, without Bishopsgate. In Queen Elizabeth's time, the Hospital "Church and Chappel," Stow says, 66 were taken downe, and houses builded there, by the governors of Christ's Hospital. In this place, people that be distraight in their wits, are (by the suite of their friends,) received and kept as afore, but not without charges to *These were the kind of Proctors who were forbidden to be entertained in Watt's House for poor Travellers at Rochester, about which so much ridiculous argument has been employed. : their bringers in." About an acre of ground, which formed a part of the precinct, was inclosed with a brick wall in 1569, by the celebrated Sir Thomas Roe, or Rowe, Lord Mayor, as a burial-ground for the ease of the London parishes. This plot abutted on the "deep ditch," which separated the hospital from the "Moore field," and was the place of interment of Sir Thomas's lady, at whose request it had been inclosed. The old gateway is yet standing on the east side of Moorfields, nearly opposite to the front of the new Catholic Chapel the piers are surmounted by sepulchral urns, and there is a stone shield of the city arins near the middle of each: the ground itself, having ceased to be a burial place, has been long converted into gardens, principally attached to the houses in Broad-street Buildings. But, during the last and present year, a considerable portion of the south side, with the narrow alley, (chiefly inhabited by brokers,) that skirted it, has been formed into a wide carriage way; during which alteration, the mouldering bones of several hundred human bodies were dug up: these were partly re-interred in one pit within the burialground, and partly carted away. The new avenue, together with Old Bethlem, which continues the communication into Bishopsgate Street, (and has been recently widened, and partly rebuilt,) has received the name of Liverpool Street. Not the least remains of the old hospital, nor yet of the buildings which succeeded it, as mentioned by Stow, are now discoverable. BETHLEHEM HOSPITAL, MOOR FIELDS. ، As the population of the metropolis increased, the lunatics requiring relief became far more numerous than in former times, till at length, in the reign of Charles II., the Corporation of London determined to erect a new edifice for their reception on the south: side of what were called the Lower Quarters of Moorfields, and immediately adjoining to the City wall. This Hospital was commenced in April 1675, and completed in July 1676, at an expense of nearly 17,0001. It was principally of brick, and consisted of a projecting centre, and lateral wings, ornamented with Corinthian pilasters, and quoins of stone: its breadth was about forty feet, and its length 540 feet. In front was a spacious area, (disposed into walks and grass plats,) inclosed by a high wall 680 feet in length; in the middle of which was a spacious entrance, formed by large iron gates and stone piers, whereon were placed the celebrated figures of Raving: and Melancholy madness,' executed by Caius Gabriel Cibber, the father of Colley Cibber the actor, dramatist, and poet-laureat. Pope greatly contributed to the popular fame of those statues by styling them, (in his Dunciad,) with alliterative satire, the "brazen, brainless brothers," of the dramatist; yet in this attempt to degrade Cibber, the mean littleness of his own mind was but too apparent. Virtue has preserved an anecdote that one of them was copied from Oliver Cromwell's gigantic Porter, who became insane, and was confined in the Hospital. In the year 1733, two additional wings, for incurable maniacs, |