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The Court used to take the water from the stairs at Whitehall Palace in Summer evenings when the heat and dust prevented their walking in the Park. An infinite number of open boats filled with the Court and City beauties attended the barges in which were the royal family; collations, music and fireworks completed the scene.-Grammont Memoirs.

Whitehall Yard, north of the Chapel Royal (Banqueting House). Here is the Royal United Service Institution, but a great change has been made in the yard lately by reason of the demolition of houses, and the erection of a large range of mansions on the river side.

Whitelands, CHELSEA. An old house on the north side of Marlborough Road; large buildings are now attached to it, and it is occupied by a paper-hanging factory. Whitelands Training College is in the King's Road.

Whittington's College. [See College Hill.]

Wigmore Street, CAVENDISH SQUARE to PORTMAN SQUARE, was so called after Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, Earl Mortimer, and Baron Harley of Wigmore Castle, the stronghold of the ancient Mortimers. 'Wigmore shall fly to set my uncle free!" exclaims young Mortimer in Marlowe's Edward II.

66

Wild Court, GREAT WILD STREET.

Here, at No. 12, lived

Theophilus Cibber and his wife, the daughter of Dr. Arne, and one of

the best tragic actresses the English stage has produced.

The fact of their residence here is derived from their own bills for their benefits, and from the famous trial of December 5, 1738.

Wild House, properly WELD HOUSE, on the site of what is now LITTLE WILD STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS, was built in the early part of the reign of Charles I. by Sir Edward Stradling, on ground then called "Oldwick close," and sold, in 1651, to Humphrey Weld, Esq., a rich parishioner of St. Giles's-in-the-Fields, son of Sir Humphrey Weld, Lord Mayor of London in 1608. The form of the house was a centre with two wings, possessing a street front of 150 feet, and a depth behind, with the garden, of 300 feet.1 It was subsequently let by the Weld family to persons of distinction, foreign ambassadors, etc. The Duchess of Ormond was living in Wild House in 1655,2 and Ronquillo, the Spanish ambassador, in another wing of the building in the reigns of Charles II. and James II. In the rioting which followed the news of the flight of James II., the mob wrecked Ronquillo's house and chapel, and the ambassador had to make his escape by a back door.3

The rich plate of the Chapel Royal had been deposited at Wild House, near Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, the residence of the Spanish Ambassador, Ronquillo. Ronquillo, conscious that he and his court had not deserved ill of the English nation, had thought it unnecessary to ask for soldiers; but the mob was not in a mood to make nice distinctions. His house was, therefore, sacked without mercy; and a noble library, which he had collected, perished in the flames. His only comfort

1 Heath's Grocers' Company, p. 225.

2 Life of Duke of Ormond, 8vo, 1747, p. 167. 3 Bramston, Autob. (Camd. Soc.), p. 339.

was, that the host in his chapel was rescued from the same fate.-Macaulay's History of England, ch. x.

April 26, 1681.—I din'd at Don Pietro Ronquillo's, the Spanish Ambassador, at Wild House, Drury Lane, who used me with extraordinary civility. The dinner was plentiful, half after the Spanish, half after the English way. After dinner he led me into his bed-chamber, where we fell into a long discourse concerning religion.— Evelyn.

Weld House is to be lett, containing 33 rooms, garrets, and cellars, with other suitable conveniences in Weld Street, near Lincoln's Inn Fields. Enquire at Weld House, or at Marybone House.—London Gazette for 1694, No. 3010.

Wild House and gardens were let on a building lease for ninety-nine years in 1695; and the present Great and Little Wild Street erected on the site. The property was the subject of the leading Chancery case of Lister v. Foxcroft (White and Tudor, 625), which was not finally decided by the House of Lords until April 7, 1701.

Wild Street (Great), LINCOLN'S INN, Drury Lane end of Great Queen Street to Sardinia Street. [See Wild House.] Pope's correspondent, Henry Cromwell, was living, July 17, 1709, at "the Blue Bull in Great Wild Street, near Drury Lane, London." 1

March 18, 1708.-In the town it is ten to one, but a young fellow may find his strayed heart again, with some Wild Street or Drury Lane damsel.-Pope (æt. 20) to Cromwell.

Wild Street (Little). [See Wild House.] In the Baptist Chapel in this street, between Nos. 23 and 24 (now a mission hall), a sermon was annually preached commemorative of the great storm of 1703 -the storm celebrated by Addison in his poem of "The Campaign."

Wilderness Row, CLERKENWELL, from Goswell Street opposite Old Street, to St. John Street, was so named from the houses facing the northern portion of the Charterhouse grounds, which being planted with shrubs and laid out in walks overshadowed by trees was called the Wilderness. Wilderness Row has been widened by setting back the Charterhouse wall and was incorporated in 1878 with that portion of the new road from Oxford Street to Old Street called Clerkenwell Road, of which it forms the northern half. The Row covered in part the site of Pardon churchyard, the chapel attached to which stood near its western end, near where Zion Chapel now stands. In excavating at various times large quantities of human bones have been found. When Wilderness Row was built the land was partly open fields; and here as late as about 1825 was the Cherry Tree Inn, with its once noted tea-gardens.

Wildman's, a Coffee-house in BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, the favourite headquarters of John Wilkes's supporters.

What Patron shall I choose? . . . .

Shall I prefer the grand retreat of Stowe,
Or, seeking patriots, to friend Wildman's go?

1 Elwin's Pope, vol. vi. p. 8o.

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It is incredible what pains Monsieur Beaumont has taken to see. He has seen Oxford, Bath, Blenheim, Stowe, Jews, Quakers, Mr. Pitt, the Royal Society, the Robin Hood, Lord Chief Justice Pratt, the Arts and Sciences, has dined at Wildman's, and I think with my Lord Mayor.-H. Walpole to Earl of Hertford, November 9, 1764.

Will Office, SOMERSET HOUSE, occupies the centre of the south side of the great quadrangle, and was removed from Knightrider Street, Doctors' Commons, in 1874. At this office wills are proved and administrations granted, and here are preserved all wills granted within the prerogative of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The earliest copy of a will preserved in the strong room of the Probate Registry is of the year 1383, and the earliest original of the year 1484.

Here is the original will of Shakespeare, on three folio sheets of paper, with his signature to each sheet-the first signature being, however, so damaged as to be only in part legible. The wills of Van Dyck, the painter, of Inigo Jones, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Johnson, Izaak Walton; and, in short, of all the great men of this country who died possessed of property in the south of England are also here. The will of Napoleon I., in which he bequeathed 10,000 francs to Cantillon, the man who tried to assassinate the Duke of Wellington in Paris, was given up to the French Government in 1853. It was proved by Count Antholin in August 1824, and the assets within the province of Canterbury were sworn to be under the value of £600. The office abounds in matter of great biographical importance-illustrative of the lives of eminent men, of the descent of property, and of the manners and customs of bygone times. Since 1861 any person entitled to do so may prove a will and take out probate, at the Department for Personal Application, without the assistance of Proctor or Solicitor.

The Department for Literary Inquiry is in a room set apart for that purpose. It is open (except on holidays) from 10 A.M. to 3.30 P.M. between October 10 and August 10, and between II A.M. and 2.30 P.M. between August and October. On payment of a fee of one shilling visitors may search the calendars and read registered copies of wills from 1383 to the present time.

The office hours at the Will Office are from ten to four, excepting during the vacation, when they are from eleven to three. The charges for searching the calendars of names is one shilling for every name. The charge for seeing the original will is a shilling extra. Plain copies of wills may be had at sixpence per folio.

Will's Coffee-house, No. 1 Bow STREET, COVENT GARDEN, on the west side, corner of Russell Street, and so called from William Urwin, who kept it. "It seems," says Sir Walter Scott, "that the original sign of the house had been a Cow. It was changed, however, to a Rose in Dryden's time."1 Scott appears to have confused two houses. The Rose Tavern was on the south side of Russell Street, at the east corner of Bridges Street; Will's Coffee-house was, as said above, on the north side, at the corner of Bow Street. The change from the Cow to the Rose is also very doubtful. have taken place, if at all, before Dryden's time. William Long is entered in the parish books as landlord of The Rose as early as 1651. [See Rose Tavern.] The lower part of Will's was let in 1693 to a woollen draper, "Mr. Philip Brent, woollen draper, under Will's Coffeehouse in Russell Street, Covent Garden." 2 In 1722 it was occupied by a bookseller, "James Woodman, at Camden's Head, under Will's Coffee-house in Bow Street, Covent Garden." The wits' room was upstairs on the first floor.

It certainly must

In the Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, under the year 1675, are the following entries :—

An accompt of money received for misdemeanors.

July 8, 1675.-Of William Urwin

4s.

"Will" kept at times, it appears, a disorderly coffee-house. was alive in 1695.

He

There

Nowhere was the smoking more constant than at Will's. That celebrated house, situated between Covent Garden and Bow Street, was sacred to polite letters. the talk was about poetical justice and the unities of place and time. There was a faction for Perrault and the moderns, a faction for Boileau and the ancients. One group debated whether Paradise Lost ought not to have been in rhyme. To another an envious poetaster demonstrated that Venice Preserved ought to have been hooted from the stage. Under no roof was a greater variety of figures to be seen. There were earls in stars and garters, clergymen in cassocks and bands, pert Templars, sheepish lads from the Universities, translators and index-makers in ragged coats of frieze. The great press was to get near the Chair where John Dryden sate. In winter that chair was always in the warmest nook by the fire; in summer it stood in the balcony. To bow to the Laureate, and to hear his opinion of Racine's last tragedy, or of Bossu's treatise on epic poetry, was thought a privilege. A pinch from his snuff-box was an honour sufficient to turn the head of a young enthusiast.Macaulay, Hist. of England, chap. iii.

February 3, 1663-1664.-In Covent Garden to-night, going to fetch home my wife, I stopped at the Great Coffee-house there, where I never was before: where Dryden, the poet (I knew at Cambridge), and all the wits of the town, and Harris the player, and Mr. Hoole of our College. And had I had time then, or could at other times, it will be good coming thither; for there, I perceive, is very witty and pleasant discourse.-Pepys.

This sort of men you shall hear say in the Pit, or at the Coffee House (speaking of an author) Damn me! How can he write? He's a raw young fellow newly come from the university. . . . Of another they say S'death, he's no scholar, can't write true grammar, etc.-Ravenscroft (To the Reader), The Careless Lovers, 4to, 1673. A boy of about 14 years old, being threatened, run away from his Master in Bow

1 Scott's Life of Dryden (in Misc. Prose Works, vol. i. p. 382).
2 London Gazette for 1693, No. 2957.

Street yesterday being the first of November [1674]. .; his name Thomas Parsons. Whoever shall give notice of him where he is to William Urwin's Coffee House in Bow Street in Covent Garden, shall be well rewarded for his pains.-London Gazette, No. 934.

Johnson. Faith, sir, 'tis mighty pretty, I saw it at the Coffee-house.

Bays. 'Tis a trifle hardly worth owning; I was t'other day at Will's throwing out something of that nature; and I' gad, the hint was taken, and out came that picture; indeed, the poor fellow was so civil to present me with a dozen of 'em for my friends I think I have one here in my pocket; would you please to accept it, Mr. Johnson.—Prior and Montague, The Hind and the Panther Transvers'd.

But granting matters should be spoke
By method rather than by luck;
This may confine their younger stiles,
Whom Dryden pedagogues at Will's :
But never could be meant to tie
Authentic wits like you and I.

Prior to Fleetwood Shepheard.

As I remember said the sober mouse

I've heard much talk of the Wits' Coffee House.
Thither, says Brindle, thou shalt go and see
Priests sipping coffee, Sparks and Poets tea;
Here rugged frieze, there Quality well drest,
These baffling the Grand Seigneur, those the Test.
And here shrewd guesses made, and reasons given
That human laws were never made in heaven.
But above all, what shall oblige thy sight

And fill thy eye-balls with a vast delight,

Is the Poetic Judge of sacred wit

Who does i' the darkness of his glory sit.

Prior, Town and Country Mouse.

I had been listening what objections had been made against the conduct of the play [Don Sebastian]; but found them all so trivial, that if I should name them, a true critic would imagine that I had played booby, and only raised up phantoms for myself to conquer.-Dryden, Preface to Don Sebastian.

Dryden, in various prefaces, takes notice of objections that had been made by critics to his Plays; which one naturally expects to find in some of the pamphlets published in his time. But the passage before us (ut sup.) inclines me to believe that most of the criticisms which he has noticed were made at his favourite haunt, Will's Coffee House.-Malone (Dryden, vol. iii. p. 191).

Bays. But if you please to give me the meeting at Will's Coffee House, about three in the afternoon, we'll remove into a private room, where, over a dish of tea, we may debate this important affair with all the solitude imaginable.

The Reasons of Mr. Bays's [Dryden's] changing his Religion, 4to, 1688.

I cannot omit to tell you, that a Wit of the Town, a friend of mine, at Will's Coffee House, the first night of the play, cry'd it down as much as in him lay, who before had read it and assured me he never saw a prettier comedy.-Mrs. Behn's Preface to The Lucky Chance, 4to, 1687.

A Wit and a Beau set up with little or no expense.

A pair of red stockings and

a sword-knot sets up one, and peeping once a day in at Will's, and two or three second-hand sayings, the other.-Tom Brown's Laconics.

Accordingly up

From thence we adjourned to the Wits' Coffee-house. stairs we went, and found much company, but little talk. . . . We shuffled through this moving crowd of philosophical mutes to the other end of the room, where three or four wits of the upper class were rendezvous'd at a table, and were disturbing the ashes of the old poets by perverting their sense. At another table were seated

a parcel of young, raw, second-rate beaus and wits, who were conceited if they had

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