Debt, Imprisonment for -- Fiction; London (England) -- History -- 18th century -- Fiction
In the afternoon, when the dinner was eaten, the cloth removed, and
the plates washed, they were able sometimes to sally forth and take
a walk. In the summer afternoons it was, it has been said, pleasant
to walk to the gardens of Gray's Inn. But when they ventured to pass
through the market there was great choice for them. The daily service
in the afternoons at St. Paul's was close at hand: here, while the body
was refreshed with the coolness of the air, the mind was calmed with
the peace of the church, and the soul elevated by the chanting of the
white-robed choristers and the canons, while the organ echoed in the
roof. After the service they would linger among the tombs, of which
there are not many; and read the famous Latin inscription over the door
of the cathedral, "_Si monumentum requiris, circumspice_."
"I knew him," Mrs. Esther would whisper, standing before the great
man's monument. "He was a friend of my father's, and he often came and
talked, my sister and myself being then but little, on the greatness
of astronomy, geometry, and architecture. In the latter years of his
life he would sit in the sunshine, gazing on the noble cathedral he
had built. Yet, grand as he is, he would still lament that his earlier
plans, which were grander still, had not been accepted."
Then out into the noisy street again: back to the shouts of chairmen,
waggon-drivers, coachmen, the bawling of those who cried up and down
pavements, the cries of flying piemen, newsmen, boys with broadsheets,
dying confessions, and ballads--back to the clamour of Fleet Market.
Another excursion, which could only be undertaken when the days were
long, was that to Westminster Abbey.
The way lay along the Strand, which, when the crowded houses behind
St. Clement's and St. Mary's were passed, was a wide and pleasant
thoroughfare, convenient for walking, occupied by stately palaces like
Northumberland and Somerset Houses, and by great shops. At Charing
Cross one might cross over into Spring Gardens, where, Mrs. Esther
said, there was much idle talk among young people, with drinking of
Rhenish wine. Beyond the gardens was St. James's Park: Kitty saw it
once in those days, being taken by Sir Miles Lackington; but so crowded
was it with gallant gentlemen, whose wigs and silken coats were a
proper set-off to the hoops and satins of the ladies, that she was
ashamed of her poor stuff frock, and bade Sir Miles lead her away,
which he did, being that day sorrowful and in a repentant mood.
"I have myself worn those silk waistcoats and that silver lace," he
said with a sigh. "My place should be amongst them now, were it not for
Hazard. Thy own fit station, pretty pauper, is with those ladies. But
Heaven forbid you should learn what they know! Alas! I knew not when I
ought to stop in the path of pleasure."
"Fie!" said she. "Young men ought not to find their pleasure in
gambling."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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