dence, Honesty, Chastity, Generosity, Hospitality, Courage, and many of the fruits of the Spirit; against him we find Vanity, Jealousy, Formality, and occasional Irritability. This balance sheet exhibits as creditable a moral showing, as did his accounts at Salisbury Court from the financial point of view. Let us take another look at his household, with the eyes of a frequent feminine visitor:

"My first recollection of him is in his house in the center of Salisbury-square, or Salisbury-court, as it was then called; and of being admitted, as a playful child, into his study, where I have often seen Dr. Young, and others; and where I was generally caressed, and rewarded with biscuits or bonbons of some kind or other, and sometimes with books, for which he, and some more of my friends, kindly encouraged a taste, even at that early age, which has adhered to me all my life long, and continues to be the solace of many a painful hour * *

"The piety, order, decorum, and strict regularity, that prevailed in his family, were of infinite use to train the mind to good habits, and to depend upon its own resources. It has been one of the means, which, under the blessing of God, has enabled me to dispense with the enjoyment of what the world calls pleasures, such as are found in crowds; and actually to relish and prefer the calm delights of retirement and books. As soon as Mrs. Richardson arose, the beautiful Psalms in Smith's Devotions were read responsively in the nursery, by herself, and daughters, standing in a circle: only the two eldest were allowed to breakfast with her, and whatever company happened to be in the house, for they were seldom without. After breakfast the younger ones read to her in turns the Psalms, and lessons for the day. * These are childish and trifling anecdotes, and savour, perhaps you

may think, too much of egotism. They certainly can be of no further use to you, than as they mark the extreme benevolence, condescension, and kindness, of this exalted genius, toward young people; for, in general society, I know that he has been accused of being of few words, and of a particularly reserved turn. He was, however, all his life-time, the patron and protector of the female sex ******. Most of the ladies that resided much at his house, acquired a certain degree of fastidiousness and delicate refinement, which, though amiable in itself, rather disqualified them from appearing in general society, to the advantage that might have been expected, and rendered an intercourse with the world uneasy to themselves, giving a peculiar shiness and reserve to their whole address, of which habits his own daughters partook, in a degree that has been thought by some, a little to obscure those really valuable qualifications and talents they undoubtedly possessed. Yet, this was supposed to be owing more to Mrs. Richardson than to him; who, though a truly good woman, had high and Harlowean notions of parental authority, and kept the ladies in such order, and at such a distance, that he often lamented, as I have been told by my mother, that they were not more open and conversable with him * *. His benevolence was unbounded, as his manner

of diffusing it was delicate and refined."

Surely no one can deny to Richardson the highest of all titles a good man.

III.

DWELLING-PLACES

Three houses shared the honour of being the dwellingplaces of the great novelist. In 1724, as has been said, he

settled in Salisbury Court, off Fleet Street. There his place of business and his city residence remained until the day of his death. In 1755, owing to his fears that the warehouse was in a dangerous condition, he determined to build another, which made it necessary also to renovate the house nearby. As the new dwelling was less commodious than the old, his wife was not wholly pleased, and Richardson mentions her objections with a shade of impatience. Extracts from two letters, one to Lady Echlin, 15 December 1755, and the other to Lady Bradshaigh, describe this commotion in the novelist's household affairs.

"Will it be sufficient to plead for my long silence to the last favour of my dear and good Lady Echlin, that I have been wholly engrossed by builders? The house I live in, in Salisbury Court, has been adjudged to have stood near its time: and my very great printing weights at the top of it, have made it too hazardous for me to renew an expiring lease. I have taken a building lease of a court of houses, eight in number, which were ready to fall; have pulled them down, and on new foundations, have built a most commodious printing office; and fitted up an adjoining house, which I before used as a warehouse, for the dwelling house. An impolitic step at my advanced time of life, had I a more advantageous view of my family, than that of having my business carried on after my demise, for its benefit."

To Lady Bradshaigh:

"Everybody is more pleased with what I have done than my wife. But that, I flatter myself, is because she has not seen either the office or the house she is to live in, since the former were little better than a heap of rubbish (eight houses being

demolished to make room for them) and the latter was a dirty warehouse. The necessity of removing being absolute, let me tell your ladyship, that I shall be both grieved and disappointed if my wife is not pleased with them both on her coming to town, which will be next Tuesday. But having three-quarters of a year to come of the lease of my present house, she insists on passing one more winter in it. And I must comply, though to my inconvenience, and though the surveyors have hinted that the house has stood its time."

Most of Richardson's literary work was done at his suburban home at North End, Hammersmith. The exact date when he leased this house is not certain, but it was, of course, after he had prospered in business. He seems to have been living there and entertaining his friends as early as 1736, as we know from a letter to him by Aaron Hill, dated that year; and yet, in a letter to Thomas Edwards in 1754, he mentions having paid rent for sixteen years, which would imply, though not prove, that he had begun to live at North End in 1738. This house, as may be seen from the engraving, was very large, and it is not positively known whether Richardson occupied the whole or only a part of it. Mrs. Barbauld said, "the half of this mansion which is nearest the eye, was occupied by Mr. Richardson, and the other half by Mr. Vanderplank." Possibly he acquired the whole of it at a later date, for he entertained on so large a scale, that a spacious house must be assumed as necessary. It was in the favourite summer-house at North End, that he spent most of his time, and where he loved to read his compositions in manuscript to a circle of devoted friends. A spirited drawing of this familiar scene was made by Miss Highmore, and is fortunately preserved. Hester Mulso, writ

ing to Miss Highmore on 20 July 1751, says, "yet is my fancy never so well pleased as when it places me amongst the dear circle at North End, which your pencil so prettily described. You do not know how much pleasure I take in surveying that sketch, nor how often I contemplate every figure in it, and recall the delights of that day." Austin Dobson pleasantly describes the picture in these words: "She has probably exaggerated the size of the grotto, which looks exceptionally spacious; but it must have been large enough to hold seven people, since, as shown in the picture, there are seven in it. It is as bare of ornament as the cabinet of M. de Buffon, a table and chairs being the only furniture. To the left, Richardson, in his habitual velvet cap and morning gown, is reading the MS. of 'Grandison'; Miss Mulso (afterwards the celebrated Mrs. Chapcne), a handsome young woman, is in the middle; the others are her father and brother, her brother's future wife, Miss Prescott, Miss Highmore, and Miss Highmore's lover, Mr. Duncombe. The ladies in their Pamela hats, are dignified and decorously attentive, while the attitudes of the gentlemen rise easily to the occasion. Their management of their legs in particular, is beyond all praise. For the rest, Mr. Mulso the elder is feeling for his handkerchief; Mr. Mulso junior has his hands in his bosom; and the Rev. John Duncombe is taking snuff with an air which would do credit to the vieille cour, or even to the irreproachable Sir Charles himself."

This famous country-house at North End is still standing, with the same iron gates: it is No. 49 North End Road, Fulham. The real brick suffers the shame of a stucco mask; some windows have been walled up, and a balcony patched on. The splendid trees and the country environment are both missing to-day. It was for many years once more honoured