The voluntary effusion was unpalatable to the company, who "rose at him," with the result that he made an exit O.P. more hurried than dignified. The following lines referring to the "Finish" were written by Tom Moore in Tom Cribb's" Memorial to Congress": "Some place that's like the Finish,' lads! The "Finish" was the last of the Covent Garden night taverns, and was cleared away in 1829. It appears that the statue of Charles I. which now stands at the top of Whitehall was once concealed in the vaults of St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden. When the King was executed, Parliament gave orders for the statue to be destroyed, and handed it over to a brazier named Rivett with instructions to that effect. The latter conceived the brilliant idea of storing it away until better (i.e. more monarchical) times should arrive. In order, however, to give foundation to the idea that he had broken it up, he made small bronzes and vases, which he sold as manufactured out of the material of the original statue. These were eagerly purchased by both Royalist and Roundhead the latter regarding them as souvenirs of their triumphs, the former as cherished mementoes of their dead monarch. At the Restoration, Rivett was induced to give up the statue ("History of Charing Cross," by Macmichael). : CHAPTER V Russell Street and the coffee-houses-Their history and importance-The first coffee-house in London-Wills's, Buttons', Tom's, the Bedford, the Rose-John Dryden-Pope-The assault on Dryden-Various descriptions of Wills's-"The Tatler "-Richard Steele and Joseph Addison-"The Guardian" and "The Spectator." RUSSELL STREET was for some considerable period the chief thoroughfare in Covent Garden. Before the improvements in the neighbourhood it gave direct access to the theatre in Drury Lane from the west end of the town. From the time of its construction in 1634 down to the period of the latter Georges its importance may be reckoned as on a par with that of Pall Mall to-day. The chief attraction of this street was the presence there of the coffee-houses which sprang into public favour about 1660. The advent of these houses supplied a long-felt want. At that period nothing like our present newspaper was in existence; consequently the opening of the coffee-houses provided facilities for all parties to meet and discuss the political and social news of the day. Every man of the better classes had his favourite haunt, whither he adjourned for a few hours' recreation from business. There, over a cup of coffee, he joined in the general conversation, which in some establishments reached quite a high standard of literary debate. It cannot be denied that the coffeehouses played a most important rôle in the morals of the period, substituting, as they did, an innocuous drink in the place of the alcoholic temptations of the general tavern. In our own day the tea-shops have done more for the cause of temperance than any amount of preaching or cerulean decorations. It is a well-established fact that the tea-shop attracts many, who once patronised the public-houses, to the quiet and modest resort where any decent woman can show her face, and where for a reasonable sum light refreshment is provided, and a game of chess or draughts can be enjoyed. The first coffee-house was established in |