BOOK.III. Subsequently he obtained the whole interest, and on the 8th of Nov. 1822, assigned it to J. W. Arkenstall, Esq. upon certain trusts. On the 8th of July, 1824, it was let by Mr. Arkenstall to Messrs. Davidge, Bengough, and Le Clercq, and subsequently the former has become the sole lessee. The front of the theatre, which is plain, is built of brick and stuccoed, stands on the south side of the New Cut, and adjoining the Waterloo road. The boxes and pit are entered by doors in the front of the house, the gallery by a door in the Waterloo road; the stage door is on the opposite side of the house. On the front of the house, in raised letters, is "Royal Cobourg Theatre." An extensive portico has recently been added to the front, from which the boxes are approached by a handsome vestibule. A double staircase in the middle leads to the dress circle, or first tier of boxes, another staircase on the left side of the vestibule leads to the second tier or upper circle. The first-tier of boxes is enclosed, and has a lobby all round. Attached to the lobby of the first circle is a spacious saloon, elegantly fitted up. The gallery is above this circle, and extends all round the auditory, with an extensive lobby at the back. The pit, which is entered by the door next the box entrance on the left, is commodious, and surrounded at the back by a partition of about four feet in height, which during the winter season is completely boarded up, and makes the house considerably warmer. The proscenium is in height about twenty-six feet. A cut-glass lustre is suspended over the pit, and one on each side of the proscenium, all lighted by gas, which is in general use over the whole of the theatre. The stage, which is extensive and better fitted up than any minor house in England, is in depth, from the lights to the wall, ninety-four feet, and in width, from stage door CHAP. I. to stage door, thirty-two feet. It gradually descends from the wall to the pit. The house holds three hundred and twenty-five pounds. The proximity of this theatre to the Strand, Covent garden, Fleet street, Charing cross, and the western parts of the metropolis, gives it a decided advantage over the other Surrey theatres; and in proportion as the buildings in the Bridge road proceed, in like proportion will the chance of success attend this establishment. From the Cobourg theatre a road proceeds to the right and left; the right, which is called Lambeth marsh, extends to the Westminster road; the left, which is called the New cut, leads to the Blackfriars road. In a street leading from it, on the left, proceeding towards the last-mentioned road, are Church-street Almshouses: Church a neat brick building, erected in 1824, for ten poor almsmembers of Mr. Upton's particular baptist society, in Church street, Blackfriars road. street houses. In Lambeth marsh stood, until the beginning of July, Bonner's 1823, when it was taken down, an ancient fragment of a building called Bonner's house, though much mutilated and altered from what it appeared a few years before. This is traditionally said to have been part of a residence of Bishop Bonner, which formerly extended a considerable way further in front. There is nothing in the history of this place to prove that it belonged to any of the bishops of London, except by an entry of an ordination in Strype's "Memorials of Cranmer," which mentions the same to have taken place "in the chapel of my lord the bishop of London in the Lower Marsh, -Lambeth." Lying-in In the Westminster road is a brick building, formerly hospital. BOOK III. used as a general lying-in hospital, previously called the Westminster Lying-in Hospital. This charity was instituted in the year 1765, by the humane exertions of the late Dr. John Leake, an eminent writer on the diseases of women. It was principally intended as an asylum for the wives of poor industrious tradesmen, and distressed housekeepers, who, either from unavoidable misfortunes or from the burden of large families, are reduced to want, and rendered incapable of bearing the expenses incident to the pregnant and lying-in state, and also for the wives of indigent soldiers and seamen; but the governors, in the spirit of true philanthropy, have extended the benefits of this institution to unmarried females, restricting this indulgence, however, to the first instance of misconduct. The benefits of this institution are also extended to pregnant women who prefer remaining with their families, or who cannot conveniently be removed, and are supplied with all necessary medicines and medical assistance. This benefit cannot be extended farther than to such as reside within certain limits, viz. Vauxhall, Kennington, and Kent street turnpikes; Tower hill, Cornhill, the turnpikes at the end of St. John street, Goswell street, Gray's inn lane, Tottenham court road, Paddington, Tyburn, Hyde park, and Pimlico. Subsequently the benefits of this institution have been extended generally. Proper midwives are appointed in the various districts to such women. A chaplain baptizes the children, keeps the register, churches the women, and administers the communion. This institution has been recently removed into a very handsome building on the east side of York road; the front towards which exhibits, in the centre, a recessed portico of four Ionic columns, within which is |