图书图片
PDF
ePub

were held sacred persons which nobody would hurt. The noblemen lay within the City for safety and security." Be the cause what it may, bishops' houses (like the residences of most ecclesiastics) were frequently placed in low unprotected spots by the sides of rivers. The Bishops of London have had a house here from a very early date; but very little of the present palace is older than the sixteenth century, while a considerable part is much more recent; and the whole has been renovated, and changed by successive prelates. The palace is an imposing building. The library is a chief feature of the interior. It contains a series of portraits of Bishops of London. In the chapel is some very fine stained glass.-Had we time to spare, we might say a few words respecting some of the Bishops who have resided here; of their royal and other distinguished guests; and of the vicissitudes of the palace: but we must hasten The grounds belonging to the palace are fine in themselves; and in combination with the river afford many choice glimpses of cultivated landscape scenery; some of the walks are delightful.

on.

Fulham church and churchyard contain many monuments to the Bishops-which are of course worth examining, if merely as examples of the monumental art of the times to which they severally belong. And there are numerous monuments to laymen that will attract attention. One in memory of Dr. Barrow, physician to Charles II., is the work of Grinling Gibbons. Another is a statue of the Earl Mordaunt, in the costume of a Roman General. The church is ancient, and interesting for its architectural features. Fulham is the mother church to Hammersmith.

The eminent inhabitants of Fulham are far too many to enumerate. Parson's Green would alone furnish an illustrious list. Sir Thomas Bodley, the founder of the famous library, had a house here. Lord Bacon was here for a short time after his disgrace, and would have stayed longer, but King James refused to renew his licence. That dashing General, the Earl of Peterborough, also resided here, and his house was the frequent resort of Locke, Swift, and other literary celebrities. Samuel Richardson, too, had a house at Parson's Green, and here his female coterie used to assemble around him. Both these last two houses have been pulled down. In some part or other of Fulham the literary labourers of the metropolis have been accustomed to reside, from the time of Florio down to Theodore Hook. It would be idle to accumulate mere names.

Putney is a good-sized village, which, from its pleasant site and healthiness, as well as its nearness to London, has always been a favourite residence with persons in easy circumstances who require to be near the great city; and the construction of the Richmond railway has added to its advantages. In the place itself there is little that requires notice here. The streets are clean and respectable; several of the houses are of a superior class. Putney Heath, with its neighbour Wimbledon, might tempt us to wander and gossip awhile about its bright and breezy uplands, its rich prospects and various recollections-but we are resolute not again to quit the banks of the Thames. Putney Church is a structure of many different dates, but is interesting as a whole; and contains some interesting memorials. Attached

to it is a small chantry chapel, which was erected by Bishop West, in the reign of Henry VIII.; and is familiar to architectural students as an example of the perpendicular style of Gothic architecture. The vaulted roof and some other parts are exceedingly rich. Bishop West was a native of Putney. His career was remarkable : his father was a baker. Having been sent to Eton College, Nicholas West was elected thence to King's College, where he proved, says Fuller, "a Rakehell in-grain," and was expelled after he had set fire to the master's apartments. His expulsion, however, sobered him; he turned hard student; and having first procured a humble employment, he gradually rose by his talents and acquirements to the highest offices both in Church and State. Henry VIII. employed him both at home and abroad; and he was one of the persons selected by Queen Catherine for her advocates. He died Bishop of Ely. His benevolence is said to have been very great; and he did not forget to make atonement to his College by liberal benefactions; the master's lodgings in particular "he rebuilt firm and fair from the ground." But there was a contemporary of West, also a native of Putney, whose rise was much more remarkable, and whose name is far more widely renowned. That bold bad man, Thomas Cromwell, the rapacious and unscrupulous minister of a still more unscrupulous and rapacious monarch, was the son of a blacksmith at Putney. It is not a little singular that the two men who have risen to higher stations than any other Englishmen under a monarchy, Thomas Cromwell and his old master Wolsey, should both have been of the meanest and most obscure birth.

But there is no comparison between the two in point of intellect or grandeur of character. Cromwell had all or nearly all of the meaner vices of his master, but none of the more splendid; and none of his virtues. Had it not been for the share which he had in bringing about the Reformation, his memory (despite of his unjust death) would have borne the infamy it deserved. As it is, he has found and still finds apologists and even admirers, though his connexion with that great event was for selfish purposes, and he has done more than any other to sully its glory.

The manor, which included his birth-place, was one of those he procured for himself in his prosperity. The most illustrious of the recent natives of Putney was Gibbon, our great historian; who was born in a house which is still standing just above the railway station. His first school was a house near the bridge. Putney has had many eminent literary inhabitants, and still has some. It has also had several otherwise famous inhabitants. William Pitt died in Bowling-Green House on the Heath.

CHAPTER XXVI.

CHELSEA REACH.

WANDSWORTH owes its name to its position on the little river Wandle, by its confluence with the Thames; it was formerly called Wandlesworth, of which the present name is an obvious corruption. The Wandle rises near Croydon, runs next by Carshalton, and thence by Mitcham, Merton, and other villages to the Thames at Wandsworth. Altogether its length is not above a dozen miles. Although not navigable, it is very serviceable; from Carshalton to Wandsworth it supplies numerous flour, snuff, dyeing, chemical, and many other mills and works. In its earlier course it is in parts extremely pretty, and a great favourite with London fly-fishers; but lower, where the banks are level, and smoky factories are the chief objects which diversify them, and the water is impregnated with unfragrant refuse of many varieties, so that what was 66 the blue, transparent Vandalis" is now but dirty brown and scarcely semi-diaphanous-no one will probably care to wander alongside it an inch farther than he is compelled.

And Wandsworth itself, as will be supposed, is not a very agreeable or very picturesque place. So much of it as lies by the Thames, and the low district that extends from the river-side to the main street, are in truth unattractive enough. They have

« 上一页继续 »