here i is believed he breathed his last.

Sheridan lived in Bedfor Street, leading to the Strand; here also resided the Earl of Chesterfield.

One of the most celebrated rendezvous of the literati of the last century was Will's Coffee-house, No. 23, on the north side of Great Russell-street, Covent Garden, at the end of Bow-street. This was the favorite resort of Dryden, who had here his own chair, in winter by the fire-side, in summer in the balcony; the company met in the first floor, and there smoked; and the young beaux and wits were sometimes honored with a pinch out of 'Dryden's snuff-box. Will's was the resort of men of genius till 1710. At No. 8 Great Russellstreet, Davis the bookseller lived. It was here that Johnson, who made frequent visits to this worthy bibliopole, was first introduced to Boswell.

Tom's, No. 17, Great Russell-street, had nearly 700 subscribers, at a guinea a-head, from 1764 to 1768, and had its card, conversation, and coffeerooms, where assembled Johnson, Garrick, Murphy, Goldsmith, Reynolds, Foote, and other celebrities the tables and books of the club are, we believe, yet preserved in the house. Button's, "over against" Tom's, was the receiving house for contributions to the “Guardian,” in a lion-head box, the aperture for which remains in the wall to mark the

place. Button had been servant to Lady Warwick, whom Addison married; and the house was frequented by Pope, Steele, Swift, Arbuthnot, and Addison. The lion's head for a letter-box, the "best head in England," was set up in imitation of the celebrated lion at Venice: it was removed from Button's to the Shakspeare's Head, under the Arcade in Covent Garden; and, in 1751, was placed in the Bedford, next door. In York-street, Covent Garden, may be seen the celebrated book-establishment of Henry G. Bohn, who is supposed to possess the largest collection of costly illustrated works in England.

Returning to the Strand we approach Somerset House, nearly opposite which is Drury Court, formerly Little Drury-lane, and once the only avenue to the theatre. This black and dirty passage in former times conducted to a road by the side of Craven House, and other princely mansions, to St. Giles's-in-the-Fields and the country. The road was lined by hedges, and partially overshadowed by trees. A little beyond this court is Catherine-street, which takes its name from Catherine of Braganza, the queen of Charles II. Here, in the reign of Edward VI., a stream of water ran to the Thames, over which was a bridge, called Strand Bridge. Brydges-street, which is a continuation of Cathe

rine-street, built about 1637, was named after George Brydges Lord Chandos.

Somerset House occupies the site of a princely mansion, built by Somerset, the Protector, brother of Lady Jane Seymour. He had not long occupied it, when he was taken to the scaffold: it afterwards became the property of the Crown, and was a royal residence during the reigns of Elizabeth and Charles II. The present building is in the form of a quadrangle it was completed in 1786. As seen from the opposite side of the river, or from the adjacent bridges, the appearance of this vast range of buildings is very imposing: it presents, indeed, one of the noblest façades in London. There are no less than 3,600 windows in Somerset House, a sufficient proof of its vast magnitude. There are about nine hundred government officials regularly employed in the several departments of the Stamp Office, Excise, Taxes, Revenue, etc. The Strand front is devoted to several learned societies and schools of art. Under the vestibule is a fine bust of Sir Isaac Newton. Herschell, Watt, Davy, Hallam, Reynolds, Wollaston, Walpole and others distinguished in arts and letters, have convened within these apartments; it was in the rooms of the Royal Academy that the last and best of Reynolds's discourses were delivered. Many notable person

ages figure historically in the records of old Somerset House but we cannot particularize, saving that Inigo Jones breathed his last in some apartment of the building, and that the body of Cromwell was laid in state in the great hall, his escutcheon being then placed over the entrance gate.

King's College, a little to the eastward, was built in 1831. The writer was present on the occasion of its opening, when Dr. Lardner delivered his inaugural address on natural philosophy. He exhibited his splendid new apparatus, and charmed his audience with one of the most masterly discourses on elementary science ever pronounced. This noble edifice covers an extensive area and is approached through a semi-circular archway from the Strand. The college measures three hundred and four feet in length; in the centre is a spacious chapel, beneath which is a hall for examination and lecture rooms, library and museum.

Pursuing our way eastward St. Clement Dane's is the next object worthy of note. It stands in the centre of the street, and is rather an imposing looking structure. This church is so styled, it is supposed, in consequence of a massacre of the Danes, which took place in this vicinity; or because Harold Harefoot was buried there. It was built by Alfred the Great. The name St Clement probably