in possession of his senses, till the early part of
Tuesday the 14th, when he sunk into lethargy, and towards evening died
without a struggle; so tranquil, indeed, were the last moments of Curran,
that those in the room were unable to mark the precise time when his
bright spirit passed away from this earth. His age has been variously
stated at sixty-seven, sixty-eight, and seventy.

The first lodging which John Banim, the Irish novelist, temporarily
occupied in England (April, 1822) was in the house where his illustrious
countryman had breathed his last, and from whence Banim removed to 13,
Brompton Grove, as already noticed. Banim's first wish, when he found
himself in England, was to visit the scene of Curran's death; led to the
spot by a strong feeling of patriotic admiration, and finding, by a bill
in the window, that lodgings were to be let there, he immediately took
them, "that he might dream of his country," as he energetically told the
writer, "with the halo of Curran's memory around him."

[Picture: Dropped Capitals for In] PELHAM CRESCENT, which consists of
twenty-seven houses, and is divided in the centre, between Nos. 14 and
15, by Pelham Place, both Crescent and Place built upon part of the
nursery-grounds over which Curran had wandered, dwell at No. 10 Mr. and
Mrs. Keeley. At No. 20 resides Mr. John Cooper the well-known veteran
actor. M. Guizot, the celebrated French statesman, after the overthrow
of the government of Louis Philippe, resided for some time at No. 21,
where Madame Guizot, his mother, died in March, 1848, at the advanced age
of eighty-three; and the same house was, by a singular coincidence,
afterwards occupied by Ledru Rollin. Pelham Place, at the back of the
Crescent, is notable for having, at No. 2, Mr. Lazarus, the celebrated
clarionet player, and at No. 8 resides Mr. A. Harris, the present lessee
of the Princess's Theatre.

Nearly opposite to Pelham Crescent is POND PLACE, where Mr. Curtis, the
eminent botanist, of whom more hereafter, died on the 7th July, 1799; and
a little further on, on the same side of the way, appears Chelsea New
Church, dedicated to St. Luke.

* * * * *

[Picture: Dropped Capital T] he first stone of this church was laid on
the 12th October, 1820, and the New Church was consecrated on the 18th
October, 1824. The architect was Mr. Savage of Walbrook. {80} The
burial-ground in which it stands had been consecrated on the 21