," for it indicated with great accuracy the business carried on there, but there is nothing suggestive about Middlesex street. It might as well have been called Wellington street, or W

t Lane, and despite the edict of the board, the

eart of the city proper. It is probably the dirtiest spot on the globe. If there is a dirtier I do not wish to see it-or, more especial

t the sense of smell was con

imperfect world there are more bad smells than perfumes. If I am deprived of one delight

during the war, reveled in his cork leg, because, having but one flesh and blood f

appen to a man the happier he should be. Would that I could take life that way, but I can't. Unfortunat

in Petticoat Lane, for in that savory locality all the senses one ne

, well-housed leader in business and everything else he puts his hands to, but the old kind of Jew, the Jew of Poland, with the long beard and long coat, very like the gaberdine we see in pictures and on the stage, the Jew of Shakespeare, the J

he day Sunday, except in this street; but here they are all open and in full blast. Whether there is a special exception made by law, or whether there is a tacit winking at the vio

OF SECO

Barrows and carts drawn by people, men or women, are the only vehicles. There would be no room for any other. The fiery steed attached to a hansom, which shares its drive

WALK SHO

ou want it second-hand, from a knitting needle to a ship's anchor. There is nothing in the street that is not second-hand, except the people. They all bear the stamp of originality, every one of them. They are born traders. If a pair of Petticoat Lane Jew twins in a cradle don't trade teething rings, and at

hey are not always mates,) you shall buy, if you desire, at any price ranging from a penny to a shilling. No matter what the ancient dame gets for them, she has made a profit. She picked them up on the streets, save a few that she may have borrowed when the owner was not looking. What anybody wants of these remnants

's tools, axes, locks, keys, and all sorts of iron-mongery, and he sells, too. Somebody wants these goods, and he

OTHING

that a villainous green coat was made for General Grant, but that he wouldn't have it because the velvet on the collar was too fine for his taste, but they approach it. He has everything that one can conceive of. There are flunkeys' uniforms, sailors' jackets, worn-out dress coats that once figured in the best society

P CLO

at Lane is not exactly the place for philosophizing, nor will it be for me till I get its smell out of my nostrils. Visiting Petticoat Lane is very much like eating onions-you carry th

t many that had not, there not being many of the royalty. There were French blouses, police uniforms, Irish

hines were represented, and he sold them, too. People come there to buy these things. They went as low as three dollars, and as high as five. One bl

treet and elsewhere, nor do they sell on time. You buy, and pay for what you buy, and to

he top, or the side, something must be gone. But the dealer didn't mind that. "You see, ma teer, all you hef to do ish to get dot leg put on, and its shoost ash goot as new, efery bit." Bureaus with missing drawers, tables with three l

TLEY

e of the original article could be sold, I bethought myself of the cooper w

rom the joint, otherwise you wouldn't know what it was. True the plate on which the satisfying food was placed had been merely dipped in cold water, and true it was that the two hundred pound woman who served it had never washed her hands since the day she was married, but that did not

r them, and that they were playing in expiation of some great crime, and were compelled to play on forever. How these people live I never could make out. During the whole day I never saw a penny given them, except one which one of our party threw them. They took it up with an expression of the most intense surprise, as though it was an astounding and unlooked-for occurrence, and immediately stopped playing, and made for the nearest cook stand and invested the whole of it in a plate of beef an

reminiscences of furniture and the like; they are the sellers. The purchasers a

as rapidly as possible, all but one of them roam through the country incessantly, buying, bartering for and picking up all the stuff, which, after bought or picked up, is brought here and fixed as f

those who are vending dilapidated clothing and broken furniture. They are well dressed men, with coats buttoned up very closely. Their raven locks are surmo

MON

u find yourself in a low room just the size of the bar below, and a curious scene presents itself. These rooms, and there are scores of them in Petticoat Lane, contain on an average any number of millions of pounds that you choose to say. I could say that there were a hundre

her people who are not royal, are first handled. To these dingy dens in the very heart of the worst quarter of the worst city in the world, comes the

ons of his vest, and takes from an inner pocket a long leather pocket-book, which he opens carefully. There are disclosed a dozen papers folded like an apothecary's package, and he opens them. Your eyes dance as you see the contents. Diamonds! I never dreamed there were so many in the world. Each paper contains a handful of all sizes and qualities, cut and uncut, of all colors and shades known to the diamond, and the ancient Jews at the tables take

o the hands of the resident buyer, who consigns it to the broker to sell, and he does it on commission the same as the elevator men handle wheat. The buyer in Petticoat Lane either cuts and se

o have been worn by Queen Anne, and another by one of the mistresses of Louis XVIII., of France. The seller says it was, and if he happens to be mistaken, what difference does it make so that you believe it? It is just as good to you as though the history was accurate. One should not be particular in such matters, though I saw enough brooches that were once the property of an English Queen to have set up a very large jewelry store, and were they all genuine it explains the high taxes in England, and justifies all t

manufacture the old styles, and tarnish the gold, and make antiques. But po

IDING IS

at the table who has a paper before him containing, say, two hundred diamonds, from secreting one or two? The broker hand

mong them which makes the property as safe in their hands as though one diamond were shown at a time. Th

DOT

he fixed at one hundred and twenty dollars, "and no abatement." (When a J

scheweler in Rechent street, and oof you can get

ct stranger to you, may carry off a ring worth fo

pring nobody here vot vould do such a ting. Dake der r

uild would be allowed to c

se any one to depend upon their word in a purchase. They have two kinds of morality. A trade with them is a

ht to him from the kitchen below. He sits and eats, never permitting, however, his eating and drinking to interfere with his

well spent. It is a world by itself-a foreign nation preserving its

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