deliver a speech which he had prepared; 'but,' said he, 'all my flowers of oratory forsook me.'" I am sorry to destroy a long-cherished illusion, but the worthy Dr Kippis is in error in "remembering" Goldsmith attempting to make a speech in "the great room" of the Society of Arts. This room was not opened until 1774, and on April 4th of that year, Goldsmith--unfortunately for the Kippis tradition--with a mind ill at ease, departed life. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 28: J. Saunders, in Knight's _London_, vol. v., pp. 359-360.] [Footnote 29: Owen Salusbury Brereton (1715-1798), antiquary; recorder of Liverpool, 1742-98; vice-president, Society of Arts, 1765-98; M.P. for Ilchester, 1775-80.] [Footnote 30: The above descriptions of Barry's famous pictures in the Adelphi are taken from Brayley's _Beauties of England and Wales, Middlesex_, vol. iii., part ii., pp. 235-241.] [Footnote 31: _London Past and Present_, vol. i., pp. 71-2.] [Footnote 32: Vol. iv., p. 266.] CHAPTER VI David Garrick--His Residence in the Adelphi--Founds the Drury Lane Fund--His Last Appearance on the Stage--Honoured by Parliament--The Friendship of Mr and Mrs Garrick for Hannah More--Their Correspondence--Garrick helps the Production of _Percy_--Presents his Buckles to Hannah More--The Production of _Percy_--Garrick's Prologue gives Offence--Garrick brings Hannah More's Dinner from the Adelphi to the "Turk's Head"--The Literary Club--His Last Illness and Death. THE shades of David Garrick and Dr Johnson must haunt the Adelphi. Johnson was a constant visitor here. The Adelphi buildings are very much as they were in his lifetime, whereas most of his Fleet Street habitations are either swept away or sadly marred. But, although the Embankment and the Gardens below Adelphi Terrace have taken the place of the unsightly wharves and the muddy river of Johnson's day, the house occupied by David Garrick for some six or seven years before his death, and wherein he died, is still standing. The great actor purchased the property, and, consequently, we may look in vain for any mention of it in the _Particulars_ of _the Adelphi Lottery_, to which I have already made reference. During these last few years of his life, Garrick--who spent the summer at his country residence at Hampton--busied himself in the foundation of a great charitable bequest for his fellow-players. At his suggestion, and upon his advice, the Drury Lane Fund was established, a special Act of Parliament, for which he provided all the necessary expenses, being obtained for the sanction and support of the institution, in January, 1776. He also gave to it all the money which he received on the occasion of his taking leave of the stage. "It is computed that by the product of his labours, in acting annually capital parts, and by donations of one kind or another, he bestowed for this beneficial institution a capital of near 4,500 L."