If these rules are dutifully followed, Englishmen would be themselves again, and not a crowd of unworthy people whose only topic of conversation consists of sport, money, and amusement.
Judging from the dastardly act of razing Crosby Hall to the ground, little care they for the beautiful and sacred memorials of the past, otherwise such acts of vandalism would scarcely be permitted. Our City Authorities, filled with wine, beer, and turtle soup, allow these Philistines for the greed of gold to desecrate and demolish every ancient building, and are equally blamable in permitting these scandals of impiety to be carried out by the demons of improvement.
Some disgusting brewery, or evil-smelling warehouse or factory, are the buildings generally erected on these famous sites. No doubt the idiot guardians of the City regard these unsightly buildings as vast improvements.
Such being the spirit of the times, there is little reason for wonder that not even the sites of many ancient important places of interest can be accurately delineated. Unfortunately this indictment applies in some measure when we search for the site of the Globe Theatre. The original plot of ground occupied by the theatre can only be conjecturally restored, and then the deepest research and careful reading of old documents must be diligently studied, besides which the poring over old maps is most essential for the true discovery of the exact sites.
An extremely illuminating article on the site of the first Globe Theatre was contributed to the transactions of the London and Middlesex Archæological Society in 1912 by Mr. George Hubbard, Vice-President of the Royal Institute of British Architects. This pamphlet was first read at the Bishopsgate Institute in February of the same year. This learned dissertation was the result of a vehement discussion following the fixing of a bronze tablet on the outside wall of Messrs. Barclay and Perkins’ Brewery, situated on the south of Park Street, formerly Maid Lane. The dispute arises over which side of the road the original Globe Theatre occupied, either on the north or the south side of Maid Lane, the modern Park Street. After a careful perusal of Mr. Hubbard’s article, every sensible reader will strongly endorse the author’s views and give his vote without demur for the north side.