268 HOME LIFE IN LONDON CHAP, xx 



entered it in 1767. It is said to be No. 16, the western 

 of two larger houses which face one another in the middle 

 of the short street. The fourth story displays a moulded 

 pediment, and within the house are a fine curved stone 

 staircase, and in the dining-room an alcove with Ionic 

 columns. There are exquisite mouldings of flowery 

 festoons upon the chimney-piece, and similar adornments 

 of the doorways and window-shutters. The windows of 

 the adjacent houses are so arranged as not to overlook 

 the small garden. Here dwelt the doctor and his sister 

 for thirteen years, with his library and his cabinets ; here 

 he received countless patients, and hardly fewer callers 

 on scientific and benevolent errands. The neighbourhood 

 is changed : fashion has moved westward, and the house 

 was for many years let out in tenements to poor families. 

 It has since been well cleansed and restored, and is now 

 occupied by a Benedictine brotherhood, over whom the 

 learned Abbot, now Cardinal Gasquet, long presided. 1 



1 Fothergill's house was the first to be occupied in the new street named 

 after Sir Wm. Harpur, Lord Mayor in 1562 : his property in this neighbourhood 

 was left to the town of Bedford (Wheatley and Cunningham, London Past 

 and Present). 



