We now make our way northward from the Common by the Clapham Road, leaving the "Plough" Inn on our left. This sign, we need scarcely remark, leads the mind back to days when the village of Clapham, far removed from the busy hum of London life, was surrounded by green fields and homesteads.

"Among agricultural signs," Mr. Larwood tells us, in his "History of Signboards," "the 'Plough' leads the van, sometimes accompanied by the legend, 'Speed the Plough.'" In some cases the sign bears an inscription in verse, such as:

"He who by the Plough would thrive, Himself must either hold or drive." But if these lines were ever inscribed here, they have long since been obliterated.

Nearer to London is the "Bedford Arms," a tavern doubtless so named in honour of the ducal house of Bedford, whose lands at Streatham, as we have seen, can be reached by this road.

From the "Bedford Arms" up to the "Plough" there is a somewhat steep ascent, and the roadway at that point is known as Clapham Rise. This spot has long been noted for its seminaries for young ladies, a fact which is wittily referred to by Tom Ingoldsby, in his amusing mock-heroic poem, "The Babes in the Wood":

"And Jane, since, when girls have 'the dumps,' Fortune-hunters in scores to entrap 'em rise, We'll send to those worthy old frumps, The two Misses Tickler, of Clapham Rise!"

This locality is also a favourite spot for charitable institutions. At Clapham Rise was founded, in 1827, the British Orphan Asylum, now located at Slough, near Windsor. The design of this institution is "to board, clothe, and educate destitute children of either sex who are really or virtually orphans, and are descended from parents who have moved in the middle classes of society, such as, for example, children of clergymen, and of members of the legal and medical professions, naval and military officers, merchants, and of other persons who in their lifetime were in a position to provide a liberal education for their children."

The British Home for Incurables, now flourishing at Clapham Rise, was established in 1861, with two objects - to provide a home for life, with good nursing, skilled medical attendance, and all necessary mechanical contrivances for the alleviation of the sufferings and afflictions of the patients; and to grant pensions of £20 per annum for life to those who may have relatives or friends partially able to provide for them, but who are not able wholly to maintain them.

All who are afflicted with incurable disease are eligible, without regard to nationality or creed, except the insane, the idiotic, and the pauper class, and those under twenty years of age. The institution extends its operations to all parts of the United Kingdom.

The Clapham Road, a broad and well-built thoroughfare, descends gradually towards Stockwell and Kennington. On every recurring "Derby Day" its appearance, from the vehicular and other traffic which passes along it, is lively and animated in the extreme.

The scenes to be witnessed here on these occasions have been graphically and amusingly described by Mr. G. A. Sala, in his "Daylight and Gaslight," to the pages of which we would refer the reader.