not abide or sojourn in the city of London". Isaac D'Israeli has collected a mass of interesting evidence on this point. He says: Proclamations warned and exhorted; but the very interference of a royal prohibition seemed to render the crowded city more charming". A statute against new buildings was passed by Elizabeth; and James I, in one of his many addresses, notices "those swarms of gentry who through the instigation of their wives, or to new fashion and model their daughters . . did neglect their country hospitality, and cumber the city, a general nuisance to the kingdom". At another time, the same monarch (James I), of whom it has been said, that "he never said a foolish thing and never did a wise one", tritely remarks, that "gentlemen resident on their estates were like ships in port; their value and magnitude were felt and acknowledged; but when at a distance, as their size seemed insignificant, so their worth and importance were not duly estimated". One old manuscript writer complains bitterly of the deluge of building" and that "we shall all be poisoned with breathing in one another's faces". Proclamations and prohibitions being in vain, the Star Chamber, in the reign of Charles I, had proceeded to strong measures, making an example of one Mr. Palmer, a non-resident Sussex squire. This unfortunate scapegoat was a rich bachelor, without a home however, his mansion on the estate having been destroyed by fire some two years previously. At the time of his arrest, he was domiciled in London. After a severe reprimand for deserting his tenants and neighbours, the judges heavily fined him a thousand pounds. Such a sentence struck terror, and D'Israeli observes :—" "I find accounts pathetic enough of their packing away on all sides for fear of the worst". Another writer, speaking of the proclamation, says :-"It is nothing pleasing to all, but 1 Curiosities of Literature. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., p. 512. DD least of all to the women". While a third records that "to encourage gentlemen to live more willingly in the country, all game fowl, as pheasants, partridges, ducks, as also hares, are this day by proclamation forbidden to be dressed or eaten in any inn". No further illustration is needed to show the pressure brought to bear upon the gentry of earlier days, to induce them to abide on their respective estates. The proximity of Ealing to London would enhance its desirability as a place of residence, and still more its nearness to the Court at Kew, helps to account for the number of "handsome mansions" in what was then a purely rural district, whatever its aspirations might assume. We have, beside, the authority of that talented femme des lettres of the eighteenth century, the charming Mrs. Delaney (Mary Granville),' for supposing old Ealing to have been a delightful spot. Writing to her sister Ann, April 30, 1734, this lady says:-" I have not spent a summer in the country with you since we were at Ealing, and don't you remember how sweet that was? I am sure you do. The churchyard and the fields, even the dusty lanes, all were charming"." In addition to the ancient manors, the fortunes of which have been briefly sketched in previous chapters, there were in the parish at the beginning of the century not a few houses of considerable historic interest. The number has by this time rapidly decreased. Until a few years ago, there stood at the corner of the Common a well-built house, large enough to merit the term mansion, plain in design, but not without architectural beauty, and with walled grounds surrounding it. This was Elm Grove, in its later days a lunatic asylum for Indian soldiers, and having for 1 Mary Granville was married 17 Feb. 1718, to Alexander Pendarves. After his death she became the wife of Dr. Delaney. 2 Autobiography and Correspondence of Mrs. Delaney. its owner the late Dr. Christie, a gentleman widely known and respected. Anciently, Elm Grove was known as Hickes-upon-the-Heath, and in the latter part of the seventeenth century it was the property and residence of Pope's early friend,' Sir William Trumbull, who became Secretary of State for King William. He died in 1716. Burnet describes him as "an able civilian and a most virtuous man ". But perhaps he is more often remembered as the friend of Pope, who wrote his epitaph, which is as follows: "A pleasing form, a firm yet cautious mind; Just to his prince, and to his country true; A scorn of wrangling, yet a zeal for truth, A gen'rous faith from superstition free, A love to peace, and hate of tyranny; Such this man was, who now from earth remov'd At subsequent periods Hickes-upon-the-Heath was in the possession of Charles Hedges, LL.D. (1688), Secretary to Queen Anne, and Dr. Egerton, Bishop of Durham, who was its owner when the first official map of Ealing was made. From the heirs of this gentleman, it was bought by Frederick Barnard, Esq., sometime before the year 1809. Mr. Barnard greatly improved and enlarged the premises, which were afterwards occupied by Lord Kinnaird, from whose representatives the estate was purchased, in 1808, by the Right Honourable Spencer Perceval, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister of England, who, it is said, gave £7,000 for the property, without the timber, which 1 Brewer's Beauties of Middlesex. A genuine and mutual friendship existed between Trumbull, who was over sixty, and Pope, still in his teens, when first their acquaintance began at Binfield. |