ion. Sir
James Thornhill lived at No. 75, where there are the remains of some
curious staircase paintings by him, in the composition of which he is
said to have been assisted by his son-in-law, Hogarth. Turner, the
father of the great painter, was a hairdresser in Dean Street, and
Nollekens' father died in No. 28. In the house adjoining the Royalty
Theatre Madame Vestris was born.

Frith Street in old maps is marked "Thrift Street," a name by no means
inappropriate at the present time. It also has its associations, and can
claim the birth of Sir Samuel Romilly, the great law reformer, who lived
until the early part of the nineteenth century, and whose father was a
jeweller here; the early boyhood of Mozart, and the death of Hazlitt,
which took place in furnished lodgings. The failure of his publishers
had made him short of money; he was harassed by pecuniary cares, yet his
last words were: "I've had a happy life."

The following advertisement bearing date March 8, 1765, is worth
quotation: "Mr. Mozart, the father of the celebrated Young Musical
Family who have so justly raised the Admiration of the greatest
musicians of Europe, proposes to give the Public an opportunity of
hearing these young Prodigies perform both in public and private, by
giving on the 13th of this month a concert which will be chiefly
conducted by his Son, a boy of eight years of age, with all the
overtures of his own composition. Tickets may be had at 5s. each at Mr.
Mozart's, or at Mr. Williamson's in Thrift Street, Soho, where Ladies
and Gentlemen will find the Family at Home every day in the week from 12
to 2 o'clock and have an opportunity of putting his talents to a more
particular proof by giving him anything to play at sight or any Music
without a Bass, which he will write upon the spot without recurring to
his harpsichord."

In this street there are many interesting relics of bygone splendour.
No. 9--now to let--has a splendid well staircase with spiral balusters.
The walls and ceiling of this are lined with oil-paintings of figures
larger than life. These have unfortunately been somewhat knocked about
during successive tenancies, but clearly show that the house was one of
considerable importance in past times. It was in lodgings in this street
that Mrs. Inchbald wrote her "Simple Story," published 1791, in four
volumes, which was an immediate success. She was an actress as well as
an author, and a friend of the Kembles. Her dramatic writ