_Mrs. Frail_.—Well, if you go to that, where did you find this bodkin? Oh sister! sister! sister every way! _Mrs. Foresight_.—Oh! devil on’t that I could not discover her without betraying myself. (_Aside_.) The house belonging to this garden stood till about 1826. For many years it was the residence of a Dr. C. Kelly, who here had an anatomical museum. He resided here in 1773, and quitted it about 1805. The house was afterwards tenanted by a gentleman named Bowes; and the museum became the auction-room of Mr. Herring. About 1818, Warren, builder to George III., took the premises; he turned the whole into workshops. After him came Mr. Cubitt, who, about 1828, procuring a lease from Mr. Lowndes, pulled the whole down, and laid out the ground for buildings. The first houses were erected about 1836–7, but it was not till 1849 that the square was wholly completed. Various relics of the Civil War have been found on this site: arms, spurs, bits, cockades, &c.; and relics telling of a different kind of struggle—staves and handcuffs, evidences of successful rencontres between the footpad and the constable. A path by the stream’s side ran along to Bloody Bridge, proceeding thence to Ranelagh. On grand gala nights such paths were protected by patrols and the more able of the Chelsea Pensioners. Among the eminent inhabitants of Lowndes Square may be enumerated the late Sir William Molesworth and Mr. Leader, M.P. for Westminster, at No. 1; Mr. M. J. Higgins, celebrated for his contributions on military matters to the _Times_, also lived at No. 1. He is thus delineated by Mrs. Gascoigne in her poem, “Belgravia:”— “Nor whilst my muse still haunts these favourite bounds, Shall she forget to sing thy Square, O Lowndes! Harbour of peace, near which the troubled sea Of human traffic roars unceasingly, Yet enters not—though day by day it swells Fiercer and fiercer; at the opening dwells A man whom rage and clamour ne’er withstood, The well-known champion of the neighbourhood! Him all who seek oppression view with fear, For sharp his wit, his mind acute and clear! With subtlest force, he wields the powerful pen. But aims it at abuses, not at men! Him Vestries know, and Rate Collectors dread, For cool his spirit—hard his reasoning head; And though a giant in his strength he be, Yet free from Tyrant’s love of rule is he; And whilst men seek, and to his judgment bend, They find in him a leader and a friend.” {154}