of James I. This lane leads to
Hammersmith, but a more agreeable way has been made opposite Edith
Villas, called Edith Road. The land is to be let on building lease; and
here once stood the house of Cipriani, the painter. [Picture: Cipriani's
House] Cipriani was born at Florence, in 1727, and died in London in
1785. He came to England in 1755; and he was one of the members of the
Royal Academy at its foundation in 1769, when he was employed to make the
design for the diploma given to Academicians and Associates on their
admission, which was engraved by Bartolozzi. The character and works of
this artist are thus described by Fuseli: "The fertility of his
invention, the graces of his composition, and the seductive elegance of
his forms, were only surpassed by the probity of his character, the
simplicity of his manners, and the benevolence of his heart." A few
plates were engraved by himself after his own designs.

Another curve of the road brings us to the site of Dr. Crotch's house,
where a row of houses, called Grove Cottages, have been built. [Picture:
Dr. Crotch's House] Dr. Crotch was, in 1797, at the early age of
twenty-two, appointed Professor of Music in the University of Oxford,
where he received the degree of Doctor of Music. In 1822 he was
appointed Principal of the Royal Academy of Music. He performed for the
last time in public in 1834 in Westminster Abbey, during the royal
festival, and died 20th December, 1847, while sitting at dinner. Dr.
Crotch has composed numerous pieces for the organ and pianoforte, and
published, in 1812, 'Elements of Musical Composition and Thorough Bass,'
and subsequently specimens of various styles of music of all ages. W.
Wynne Ryland, the engraver, lived in this house before Dr. Crotch
inhabited it.

Opposite where Dr. Crotch's house formerly stood, facing a turning which
is called on one side Lawn Terrace, on the other Ashton Terrace, is a
large brick mansion inhabited by Richardson the novelist before his
removal to Parson's Green. It is of the period of William III., the
appearance of which may be recognized from the annexed sketch. In the
garden was a summer-house, in which the novelist wrote before the family
were up, and he afterwards, at the breakfast table, communicated the
progress of his story. [Picture: House of Richardson] How little the
exterior has been altered in the last fifty years, a comparison of this
sketch, made in 1844, with the print prefixe