_Mrs. Foresight_.—You deny it positively to my face?
_Mrs. Frail_.—Your face, what’s your face?
_Mrs. Foresight_.—No matter for that, it is as good a face as yours.
_Mrs. Frail_.—Not by a dozen years wearing. But I do deny it, positively, to your face, then.
_Mrs. Foresight_.—I’ll allow you now to find fault with my face; for I declare your impudence has put me out of countenance. But look you here now; where did you lose this gold bodkin? Oh, sister! oh, sister!
_Mrs. Foresight_.—Nay, it is yours—look at it.
_Mrs. Frail_.—Well, if you go to that, where did you find this bodkin? Oh, sister! sister! sister every way!
_Mrs. Foresight_.—Oh! bother on’t that I could not discover her without betraying myself. (_Aside_.)
Joseph Mallard W. Turner, Esq., R.A., resided for some time in a small house directly facing the Thames, in the road leading to Cremorne, where he died in 1851. No doubt he selected this spot on account of the attractive scenery on the river, and the fine view of some parts of Surrey, as also to enjoy for a time the benefits arising from a more secluded life. At the age of thirty years, Mr. Turner was recognised as the first landscape painter of the day. For a period of sixty years he contributed to every exhibition of the Royal Academy, sending in all 259 pictures. For many years he refused to part with some of the choicest specimens of his art, and after his death it was found that he had left those to the English nation, together with a great number of drawings and engravings. Mr. Turner, while residing here, lived in almost entire seclusion. He would not see any person, excepting a few very intimate friends, and, in fact, was extremely anxious not to be recognized. This inclination, at the close of his life, was very natural. The world is indebted to him for his productions, and Chelsea is proud to add his name to its list of distinguished residents.
The roadway in front of the house occupied by Mr. Turner, and along the front of that part of the river, has been considerably widened, and now presents a well-formed embankment. A handsome terrace has been erected, besides a number of houses on the adjoining ground.
This villa was first formed by Theophilus, Earl of Huntingdon, who died in 1746. It afterwards belonged, successively, to Richard, Viscount Powerscourt; to the Countess Dowager of Exeter, relict of Brownlow, the eighth Earl; and to Sir Richard Lyttleton, who married the Dowager Duchess of Bridgewater, and died in 1770.