32 EXPERIENCES OF A SURGEON. 



" Somerset House recalls the name of another queen, whom ill- 

 judged love, or misplaced ambition, rendered miserable Henrietta 

 Maria, widow of Charles I. The Earl of St Albans, to whom she 

 had privately given her hand, treated her with the most ruthless 

 contempt : she descended from a throne to be the minion of his 

 vilest pleasures, whilst her proud and indignant spirit was held in 

 subjection by measures of stern severity. The change must have 

 been one of the most bitter kind, as her domestic relations with 

 Charles were happy and confidential." 



"And here, too, dwelt the queen of another Stuart Catherine of 

 Braganza, not a widowed wife indeed, but one deserted by a profli- 

 gate and licentious husband. She bore much : whether from native 

 indifference, or from a feeling of policy generated by a court edu- 

 cation, it matters not; but Whitehall became at times the sty of 

 lascivism, too gross, even for her nerves, and then she removed 

 hither. The 'merry monarch' and his licentious nobles overthrew, 

 with a vengeance, the reign of puritanism, and did more mischief to 

 the morals of our country than any set of public vagabonds of an 

 earlier or later date. I have somewhere seen a remark made by 

 Bonaparte, to the effect that ' immorality is the worst of faults in a 

 sovereign : it introduces it as a fashion amongst his subjects, and 

 strengthens every vice, blights every virtue, and infects all society 

 like a pestilence.' And in saying this, he spoke the truth." 



EXPERIENCES OF A SURGEON. 



No. V. THE STUDENT IN LONDON. 



LODGING HUNTING LODGING-HOUSES AND EATING- 

 HOUSES. 



As it was likely that I should determine upon the School in 

 Windmill Street for the prosecution of my studies, I looked out for 

 suitable apartments in that neighbourhood. My search therefore 

 extended through Golden Square and its vicinity ; such as Pulteney 

 Street, Warwick Street, Wardour Street, Rupert Street, &c. I 

 found nothing there exactly to my taste. I then pursued my inquiries 

 about Soho Square; perambulated Dean Street, Greek Street, Frith 

 Street, King Street, Queen Street, Gerrard Strtet, Lisle Street ; and, 

 in short, there was hardly a street between Berkeley Square and Soho 

 that I did not visit. I was astonished at the vast number of lodging- 

 houses I found. In fact, in those streets which were not active 

 business thoroughfares, almost every house of respectable exterior 

 was ticketed as having *' Apartments to let." I was a good deal 

 amused, too, though at last tired enough. My object was to secure 

 clean and comfortable rooms at the least possible expense. I was a 

 perfect stranger, and, as was likely in the course of such a search, 



