His Grace, who was passing at the moment, attended by his groom, accidentally overhearing the remark, turned towards the lady, and lifting his hat, said, "Madam, permit me to gratify your wish, by presenting the Duke before you.”

Facing Apsley House stands the Royal entrance to Buckingham Palace. This triumphal archway is of marble, and surmounted by the colossal statue of the Duke of Wellington, which is undoubtedly the largest equestrian statue in the world.

The house two doors east of the Duke of Wellington's was long the London residence of Beckford, the author of "Vathek."

Passing down Piccadilly, may be seen many splendid houses of the nobility: the first we would mention, is that of the Earl of Elgin. Here were first exhibited the celebrated collection of marbles, now deposited in the British Museum, and which will ever bear his name. They were purchased by the British government in 1816, at the cost of £35,000,-a sufficient proof of the cupidity of one party and the prodigality of the other. The aristocratic thoroughfare, now known as Parklane, was formerly called Tyburn-lane, notorious as being the highway to the place of public executions. Curzon-street, where the chapel now stands,

was, about the middle of the last century, the spot where May Fair was kept.

The celebrated Bath House, which fronted on Piccadilly and which was standing until the year 1821, contained upwards of fifty rooms, besides numerous servants' offices, etc. The ceiling of the library was richly carved with foliage and splendidly gilt, and the other apartments of this noble mansion were of corresponding splendor. Sir William Pulteney was its sole occupant for years, and afterwards it was possessed by the Duke of Portland. In 1711, it was referred to in the "Spectator" as a country seat. Upon its site Lord Ashburton, formerly Mr. Baring, has erected a more modern structure. The Duke of Devonshire's town residence is not far distant. At this splendid stone mansion are given those magnificent balls and fêtes which excite the admiration of one half the fashionable world, and the envy of the other. The Duke, by the tenure of his title, is unmarried, and is regarded as the leader of the fashions. The residence of Lord Brougham stands adjacent. It is a large house on the west side of the Duke's.

The character of Brougham has been admirably epitomized by Punch, in the following lines:

The Statesman, who, in a less happy hour

Than this, maintained man's right to read and know,

And gave the keys of knowledge and of pover
With equal hand alike to high and low.
The Lawyer,-who, unwarped by private aims,
Denounced the Law's abuse, chicane, delay;
The Chancellor,-who settled centuries' claims,
And swept an age's dense arrears away;
The man whose name men read e'en as they run
On every landmark the world's course along,
That speaks to us of a great battle won

Over untruth, or prejudice, or wrong.

From No. 80, Sir Francis Burdett was taken to the Tower, April 6th, 1810; the officer, armed with an arrest-warrant, scaling the house with a ladder, entering the window of the drawing-room, where Sir Francis was found instructing his son in 'Magna Charta,' the street being occupied by the Horse Guards. No. 105, now Hertford House, was the old Pulteney Hotel; here the Emperor of Russia put up during the memorable visit of the allied sovereigns in 1814: and here the Duchess of Oldenburgh (the Emperor Alexander's sister) introduced Prince Leopold to the Princess Charlotte. In the large brick house No. 1, Stratton-street, Mrs. Coutts, afterwards Duchess of St. Albans, died. Lord Eldon's house, at the corner of Hamilton-place, was built by his grandfather, Lord Chancellor Eldon, who died in it. On the south end of Albemarle street, once stood the princely edifice, Clarendon House, the residence of the Chancellor. It cost ori.

ginally £50,000, it has since been pulled down. No. 50 Albermarle street, is the celebrated establishment of John Murray, publisher to the Admiralty. Murray, the well known publisher of Byron's works, used to be familiarly styled, the 'Prince of Publishers; his drawing room has been honored by the presence of most of the great lights of modern literature,—Scott, Jeffreys, Millman, Byron, Washington Irving, Lockhart, Prof. Wilson, Moore, etc. Murray was the only member of his craft, admitted to the tables of the aristocracy, and, if report be true, he fully appreciated the privilege. To the honor of Burlington House and the noble Earl, it will be recollected Pope, Gray, and Handel were among its resident visitors. Queensberry House, in Burlington Gardens, was where the amiable poet Gray breathed his last in 1752. His body lay in state, and, at eight o'clock in the evening, was buried in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey, attended by Pope and several distinguished noblemen. Near the west side of Burlington House, is Burlington Arcade. It is a covered avenue with glass roof, and with shops on either side tastefully decorated. On the eastern side of Burlington House, is a snug retreat denominated The Albany. It consists of a range of houses divided off into chambers, and principally occupied

by "gay young bachelors," members of Parliament, artists, and authors. Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton occupied chambers there. Monk Lewis, George Canning, and Lord Byron resided here; the house of the last named was No. 139. On the opposite side of Piccadilly stands the Egyptian Hall. It is here Catlin's Indian Gallery has been exhibited. St. James's Church watches over the remains of-Dodsey, the bookseller; Gillray, the caricaturist; Cotton, the associate of Izaak Walton; Dr. Arbuthnot, the friend of Pope; Mark Akenside, the poet; and Sir John Malcolm.

The reader may be curious to know the origin of the name-Piccadilly. The earliest authority on this subject bears date 1566, from which we learn the term "Pickadill" signified the hem of a garment, and it is supposed its application to this street was in consequence of its remoteness from the town. Mr. Jesse is of the opinion, however, that this article of dress was not introduced until nearly twenty years after Piccadilly had become a familiar name. He inclines to the supposition that the name took its rise from the Spanish word peccadillo-a venial fault; and that the name was first given to a house of amusement located here, which was the favorite resort of the votaries of fashion and folly of those days.