the present, when I am there, for looking at the past.'

'You are enthusiastic,' said Miss Frere. 'But I understand it. Yes,
that is not like New York; not much!'

'What became of the Cross, Pitt?'

'Pulled down, mother--like everything else in its day.'

'Who pulled it down?'

'The Republicans.'

'The Republicans! Yes, it was like them!' said Mrs. Dallas. 'Rebellion,
dissent, and a want of feeling for whatever is noble and refined, all
go together. That was the Puritans!'

'Pretty strong!' said Pitt. 'And not quite fair either, is it? How much
feeling for what is noble and refined was there in the court of the
second Charles?--and how much of either, if you look below the surface,
was in the policy or the character of the first Charles?'

'He did not destroy pictures and pull down statues,' said Mrs. Dallas.
'He was at least a gentleman. But the Puritans were a low set, always.
I cannot forgive them for the work they did in England.'

'You may thank heaven for some of the work they did. But for them, you
would not be here to-day in a land of freedom.'

'Too much freedom,' said Mrs. Dallas. 'I believe it is good to have a
king over a country.'

'Well, go on from Charing Cross, won't you,' said Miss Frere. 'I am
interested. I never studied a map of London before. I am not sure I
ever saw one.'

'I do not know which way to go,' said Pitt. 'Every step brings us to
new associations; every street opens up a chapter of history. Here is
Northumberland House; a grand old building, full of its records.
Howards and Percys and Seymours have owned it and built it; and there
General Monk planned the bringing back of the Stuarts. Going along the
Strand, every step is full of interest. Just _here_ used to be the
palace of Sir Nicholas Baron and his son; then James the First's
favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, lived in it; and the beautiful
water-gate is yet standing which Inigo Jones built for him. All the
Strand was full of palaces which have passed away, leaving behind the
names of their owners in the streets which remain or have been built
since. Here Sir Walter Raleigh lived; _here_ the Dudleys had their
abode, and Lady Jane Grey was married; here was the house of Lord
Burleigh. But let us go on to the church of St. Mary-le-Strand. Here
once stood a great Maypole, round which there used to be merry doings.
The Puritans took that down too, mother.'

'What for?'

'They held it to be in some sort a relic of heath