Strawberry Hill; while Dr. Johnson-notwithstanding the Dictionary and the Rambler —had been latterly (1756) in such sore straits as to appeal to his friend Richardson for the loan of a few guineas to save him from jail; and Richardson, fresh then in his triumphs from Clarissa Harlowe and the great Grandison, was not slow to grant the request,1 and to enjoy all the more his Kingship among the women, in his great house out at Hammersmith.

A sharp walk of a quarter of an hour from St. Paul's would, in that time, take one into the green fields that lay in Islington; and beyond, upon the Waltham road, were the hedges, pikes, and quiet paddocks, through which went galloping—at a little later day— that citizen of "credit and renown," John Gilpin, instead of the clattering suburbs that now stretch nearly all the way between Cheapside and the "Bell" at Edmonton.

Of the many bridges which now span the Thames, only two2 representatives were in existence; the old Westminster was there in its first freshness, and ferrymen quarrelling

1 See note, Hill's Boswell, p. 304, vol. i.

'Blackfriars was not built until 1769, and the old Westminster in 1750.

Strawberry Hill; while Dr. Johnson-notwithstanding the Dictionary and the Rambler --had been latterly (1756) in such sore straits as to appeal to his friend Richardson for the loan of a few guineas to save him from jail; and Richardson, fresh then in his triumphs from Clarissa Harlowe and the great Grandison, was not slow to grant the request,1 and to enjoy all the more his Kingship among the women, in his great house out at Hammersmith.

A sharp walk of a quarter of an hour from St. Paul's would, in that time, take one into the green fields that lay in Islington; and beyond, upon the Waltham road, were the hedges, pikes, and quiet paddocks, through which went galloping—at a little later daythat citizen of "credit and renown," John Gilpin, instead of the clattering suburbs that now stretch nearly all the way between Cheapside and the "Bell" at Edmonton.

Of the many bridges which now span the Thames, only two2 representatives were in existence; the old Westminster was there in its first freshness, and ferrymen quarrelling

1

1 See note, Hill's Boswell, p. 304, vol. i.

"Blackfriars was not built until 1769, and the old Westminster in 1750.