“If I had known that you were most pleased with that style of gossiping which you speak so kindly of, I would have confined myself to the course you recommend;
* His splendid work on the Royal Residences, mentioned in volume ii., is an elaborate example; but his facile pencil so ready and true in seizing every quaint and characteristic form or feature, as illustrated in his Microcosm of London, and other productions which gave celebrity to Ackerman’s Repository, were still more captivating proofs of his genius in |
| W. H. PYNE: WINE AND WALNUTS. | 79 |
“To take a slight peep in St. Margaret’s Church, and pass on to Old St. Martin’s Church, of which little is known. To have given some quaint epitaphs introduced with chit-chat about costume, with an attempt at some original remarks—pointed ones. I had addressed it to the inhabitants of that extensive parish, telling them what distinguished predecessor parishioners they had, as many of the painters of Charles I. and II. were buried there. Then to have proceeded to Covent Garden in the same gossiping style,—another church for the interment of painters. Promising that after showing what geniuses and oddities have lived in these neighbourhoods—what caused the change of manners, &c., &c, and then introduce Old Slaughters, and Hogarth’s club there. The old academy there (St. Martin’s Lane). The establishment of King Charles I. Academy at the house, late the Royal Hotel Covent Garden. Tom King’s, Button’s, Will’s, and other coffee-houses in the same parish. And all the taverns, hotels, and smoking shops, right on through the city. In short, I wished to give a sketch of the manners from Charles I. to the age of Pope and Arbuthnot, and all such worthies, giving the readers notice of the reason for the apparent digression. I think the St. Margaret’s, and St. Martin’s, and Covent Garden would be new. There will be no lack of gossiping
the arts. It was delightful to lounge out with him on a summer day, imbibe his conversation, and watch the execution of a dozen humorous and most faithful sketches, of beggars, brewers, milkmaids, children at play, animals, odd-looking trees, or gates, or buildings—in short, of all curious or picturesque objects and everything else. |
| 80 | AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. |
