THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

OR

LONDON IN MINIATURE VOL. Ill

./v

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

OR

LONDON IN MINIATURE

\ f\c\-e*"m&K^ ^ IxVotalrok

VOLUME III

WITH FORTY ILLUSTRATIONS BY PUGIK AND ROWLANDSON

METHUEN & CO. LONDON

1904

D

v. 3

NOTE

T^HIS Issue is founded on the original Edition published by Rudolph Ackermann.

in.

R.ACKERMAJfN .

27io*Tpmkinr Scrip

INTKODUCTION

ON presenting the first number of the third volume of the MICROCOSM OF LONDON to the public, it would be in- excusable in the proprietor, were he not to avail himself of the opportunity, to express the extreme satisfaction which he has derived from the increasing approbation that accompanies the progress of his work.

That he has spared no expence in the execution of it, must, he presumes, be evident to the slightest glance over its contents ; and when the price is compared with the work itself, he flatters himself it will appear, that he has been influenced by other motives besides those of gain, in the prosecution of it.

A new mode of displaying objects already known, has, in some degree, the merit of discovery ; especially when they are not generally accessible. At all events, a previous acquaintance with them, by means of the pencil and the pen, will at once direct the attention of the visiter, to their beauties, their defects, and their utilities, and enable him to form an immediate, as well as accurate judgment of them all. He will possess the advantages of the traveller, who is prepared with the language of the country which he is about to visit.

x INTRODUCTION

The same labour, the same attention, the same correctness of delineation, and an equal fidelity of description, will be found in this volume, as in those which have preceded it ; while the lover of the fine arts, the historical and antiquarian enquirer, and the curious stranger, will find, it is presumed, a progressive increase of pleasure, as they proceed in the continuation of the work which is now presented to them.

CONTENTS

OF VOL. Ill

QUEEN'S PALACE i

ROYAL CIRCUS - 13

ROYAL EXCHANGE - 17

ROYAL INSTITUTION - - 33

SADLER'S WELLS - 41 SESSIONS - HOUSE, CLERKEN-

WELL - 45 SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOUR- AGEMENT OF ARTS - - 66 DITTO OF AGRICULTURE - 73

SOMERSET-HOUSE - 86

STAMP-OFFICE - - 99

STOCK-EXCHANGE - IOI

ST. JAMES'S PALACE - - 113

ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL - 121

ST. MARGARET'S CHURCH - 127

ST. MARTIN'S IN THE FIELDS 130

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL - 145

SURREY INSTITUTION - - 158

SYNAGOGUE - - 167

TATTERSALL'S REPOSITORY - 172

TEMPLE 174

TOWER OF LONDON, EXTERIOR 185

TOWER OF LONDON, HORSE- ARMORY, INTERIOR - - 1 88 BOARD OF TRADE - 197 TRINITY-HOUSE - 2OI VAUXHALL - 2O4 ST. STEPHEN WALBROOK - 2O8 WATCH-HOUSE - - 217 WEST INDIA DOCKS - - 2l8 WESTMINSTER ABBEY - - 22Q WESTMINSTER HALL - - 235 WHITEHALL - - 239 WORKHOUSE - 242 GREENWICH HOSPITAL - 246 CHELSEA HOSPITAL - - 253 ROYAL MILITARY ASYLUM AT

CHELSEA - 257

COVENT - GARDEN NEW

THEATRE - 263

SOUTH-SEA HOUSE - 267

EXCISE-OFFICE - - 269

VIEW OF THE THAMES AND WESTMINSTER BRIDGE,

FROM LAMBETH - 278

VIEW OF LONDON, FROM THE

THAMES - - 279

N.B. The binder is requested to note the above, as furnishing him with directions for the arrangement of the plates.

THE patronage which this work has received from the public, is a proud boast of the proprietor at the close of it. Indeed, without that distinguished and increasing support with which he has been honoured m its progress, he could not have given it the character, it is thought to deserve. Ever anxious to make the best returns in his power, for that public favour, which is at once his pride and his reward, he has spared no pains, and shrunk from no cost, that might continue it to him. THE MICROCOSM, he trusts, will do credit to his exertions, and be considered as an admissible addition to British literature.

H U

n

THE

MICROCOSM OF LONDON

OR

LONDON IN MINIATURE THE QUEEN'S PALACE

IT is the professed object of this work to give views of some principal interior part of the buildings which it describes, and we have seldom deviated from it. But as this Palace, though replete with sumptuous domestic accommodation, contains no individual apartment which admits of a representation suited to our purpose, we have given its external appearance ; which, when combined with the accessory circumstances, forms so pleasing a picture, that no apology, we presume, will be considered as necessary, for this accidental deviation.

This Palace, formerly known, and not yet altogether forgotten, as Buckingham- House, is finely situated at the west end of St. James's Park. The edifice is of brick, enriched with stone, and is of that beautiful kind of brick- work which, at the period when it was erected, was considered as a mark of taste and distinction. Parts of Hampton-Court Palace are of this kind. The principal front, which is towards the mall and the grand canal, is approached

III. B

2 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

through a spacious court, inclosed with an iron railing. The entrance is gained by a broad flight of steps, from which rise four lofty fluted pilasters, of the Corinthian order, to the height of the second story, with an entablature that traverses the whole of the elevation ; each end of which is decorated with a pilaster similar to those that distinguish the center. Within this compass are two series of very large and lofty windows. The entablature is surmounted by an attic story, crowned with a balustrade ; and the wings are elegantly connected with the house by bending colonnades of the Ionic order, which, since their Majesties have made this Palace their town residence, have been inclosed with brick -work, to render the communication more commodious. Turrets rise from the center of the wings ; one of them containing a clock, and the other a wind-dial. The weathercock of the latter is answered only by the dials on the north and south sides ; while a false dial presents itself towards the mall, and, being more generally observed, is continually deceiving the beholder, as the hand never varies from the point where it was first placed.

The original site of this stately edifice was that of Arlington- House, the residence of Bennet, Earl of Arlington, one of the famous Cabal. It was afterwards purchased by John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, who having obtained an additional grant of land from the crown, rebuilt it, in the year 1 703, in that style of magnificence, which it retained, without alteration, except the demolition of its expensive water - works, till it became the property of his present Majesty.

It may, perhaps, gratify curiosity in various ways, to have a correct description of this superb edifice at the sera of its com- pletion ; and this can be done on no less authority than that of

THE QUEEN'S PALACE 3

the nobleman himself who caused it to be erected for his residence. A letter of the Duke of Buckingham to his friend the Duke of Shrewsbury, which gives a very particular detail of his splendid mansion, has been preserved, and must be considered as a curious document, not merely from the object it describes, but the distinguished character of the writer.

From the Duke of BUCKINGHAM to the Duke of SHREWSBURY.

" You accuse me of singularity in resigning the privy seal, with a good pension added to it, and yet afterwards staying in town at a season when every body else leaves it, which you say is at once despising both court and country. You desire me, therefore, to defend myself, if I can, by describing very particularly in what manner I spend so many hours, that appear long to you, who know nothing of the matter, and yet, methinks, are but too short for me.

" No part of the task which you impose is uneasy, except the necessity of using the singular number so often. That one letter (I) is a most dangerous monosyllable, and gives an air of vanity to the modestest discourse whatsoever. But you will remember, I write this only by way of apology ; and that, under accusation, it is allowable to plead any thing for defence, though a little tending to our commendation. ,

" To begin then without more preamble. I rise now in summer about seven o'clock, from a very large bedchamber, entirely quiet, high, and free from the early sun, to walk in the garden ; or, if rainy, in a saloon filled with pictures, some good, but none disagreeable : there also, in a row above them, I have so many

4 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

portraits of famous persons, in several kinds, as are enough to excite ambition in any man less lazy, or less at ease, than myself.

" Instead of a little closet, according to the unwholesome custom of most people, I chuse this spacious room for all my small affairs, reading books, or writing letters ; where I am never in the least tired, by the help of stretching my legs sometimes in so large a room, and of looking into the pleasantest park in the world just underneath it.

" Visits, after a certain hour, are not to be avoided, some of which I own to be a little fatiguing (though, thanks to the town's laziness, they come pretty late), if the garden were not so near, as to give a seasonable refreshment between those ceremonious interruptions ; and I am more Sorry than my coachman himself, if I am forced to go abroad any part of the morning : for though my garden is such, as by not pretending to rarities or curiosities, has nothing in it to inveigle one's thoughts, yet, by the advantage of situation and prospect, it is able to suggest the noblest that can be, in presenting at once to view, a vast town, a palace, and a magnificent cathedral. I confess, the last, with all its splendour, has less share in exciting my devotion, than the most common shrub in my garden : for though I am apt to be sincerely devout in any sort of religious assemblies, from the very best (that of our own church), even to those of Jews, Turks, and Indians ; yet the works of nature appear to me the better sort of sermons, and every flower contains in it the most edifying rhetoric, to fill us with admiration of its omnipotent Creator.

" After I have dined, either agreeably with friends, or, at worst, with better company than your country neighbours, I drive away to a place of air and exercise, which some constitutions are

THE QUEEN'S PALACE 5

absolutely in need of; agitation of the body, and diversion of the mind, being a composition of health above all the skill of Hippocrates.

" The small distance of this place from London, is just enough for recovering my weariness, and recruiting my spirits, so as to make me better than before I set out, for either business or pleasure. At the mentioning the last of these, methinks I see you smile ; but I confess myself so changed, which you maliciously, I know, will call decayed, as to my former en- chanting delights, that the company I commonly find at home, is agreeable enough to make me conclude the evening on a delightful terrace, or in a place free from late visits, except of familiar acquaintance.

" By this account you will see, that my time is conjugally spent at home ; and consequently you will blame my laziness more than ever, for not employing it in a way which your partiality is wont to think me capable of : I am therefore obliged to go on with this trifling description, as some excuse for my idleness. But how such a description is itself excusable, is what I should be very much in pain about, if I thought any body could see it besides yourself, who are too good a judge in all things, to mistake a friend's compliance in a private letter, for the least touch of vanity.

" The avenues to this house are along St. James's Park, through rows of goodly elms on one hand, and gay flourishing limes on the other ; that for coaches, this for walking, with the mall lying between them. This reaches to my iron palisade that encom- passes a square court, which has in the midst a great basin with statues and water-works ; and, from its entrance, rises all the way

6 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

imperceptibly, till we mount to a terrace in the front of a large hall, paved with square white stones, mixed with a dark-coloured marble ; the walls of it covered with a set of pictures done in the school of Raphael. Out of this, on the right hand, we go into a parlour, thirty-three feet by thirty-nine, with a niche fifteen feet broad for a beaufette, paved with white marble, and placed within an arch with pilasters of divers colours ; the upper part of which, as high as the ceiling, is painted by Ricci.

" From hence we pass, through a suite of large rooms, into a bedchamber of thirty-four feet by twenty-seven ; within it a large closet, that opens into a green-house. On the left hand of the hall are three stone arches, supported by Corinthian pillars, under one of which we go up eight and forty steps, ten feet broad, each step of one entire Portland stone. These stairs, by the help of two resting-places, are so very easy, there is no need of leaning on the iron baluster. The walls are painted with the story of Dido ; whom, though the poet was obliged to dispatch away mournfully, in order to make room for Lavinia, the better-natured painter has brought no farther than to that fatal cave where the lovers appear just entering and languishing with desire. The roof of this staircase, which is fifty-five feet from the ground, is forty feet by thirty-six, and filled with the figures of gods and goddesses. In the midst is Juno, condescending to beg assistance from Venus, to bring about a marriage which the fates intended should be the ruin of her own darling queen and people. By which that sublime poet intimates, that we should be never over eager for any thing, either in our pursuits or our prayers, lest what we endeavour or ask too violently for our interests, should be granted by Providence only in order to our ruin.

THE QUEEN'S PALACE 7

" The bass-reliefs, and all the little squares above, are episodical paintings of the same story : and the largeness of the whole has admitted of a sure remedy against any decay of the colours from salt-petre in the wall, by making another of oak laths four inches within it, and so primed over like a picture.

" From a wide landing-place on the stairs'-head, a great double door opens into an apartment of the same dimensions with that below, only three feet higher ; notwithstanding which it would appear too low, if the higher saloon had not been divided from it. The first room of this floor has within it a closet of original pictures, which are yet not so entertaining as the delightful prospect from the windows. Out of the second room, a pair of great doors gives entrance into the saloon, which is thirty-five feet high, thirty-six broad, and forty-five long. In the midst of its roof, a round picture of Gentileschi, eighteen feet in diameter, represents the Muses playing in concert to Apollo, lying along on a cloud to hear them. The rest of the room is adorned with paintings relating to arts and sciences ; and underneath, divers original pictures hang all in good lights by the help of an upper row of windows, which drown the glaring.

" Much of this seems appertaining to parade, and, therefore, I am glad to leave it to describe the rest, which is all for con- veniency. As first, a covered passage from the kitchen without doors, and another down to the cellars and all the offices within. Near this, a large and lightsome back stairs leads up to such an entry above, as secures our private bedchambers both from noise and cold. Here we have necessary dressing-rooms, servants' rooms, and closets, from which are the pleasantest views of all the

8 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

house, with a little door of communication betwixt this private apartment and the great one.

" These stairs, and those of the same kind at the other end of the house, carry us up to the highest story, fitted for the women and children, with the floors so contrived as to prevent all noise over my wife's head during the mysteries of Lucina.

"In mentioning the court at first, I forgot the two wings in it, built on stone arches, which join the house by corridores, supported by Ionic pillars. In one of these wings is a large kitchen thirty feet high, with an open cupola on the top : near it, are a larder, brewhouse, and laundry, with rooms over them for servants : the upper sort of servants are lodged in the other wing, which has also two wardrobes and a store-room for fruit. On the top of all, a leaden cistern, holding fifty tons of water, driven up by an engine from the Thames, supplies all the water- works in the courts and gardens, which lie quite round the house ; and through one of which a grass walk conducts to the stables, built round a court, with six coach-houses and forty stalls. I will add but one thing before I carry you into the garden, and that is about walking too, but it is on the top of all the house ; which, being covered with smooth milled lead, and defended by a parapet of balusters from all apprehension as well as danger, entertains the eye with a far-distant prospect of hills and dales, and a near one of parks and gardens. To these gardens we go down from the house by seven steps, into a gravel walk that reaches cross the garden, with a covered arbour at each end of it. Another, of thirty feet broad, leads from the front of the house, and lies between two groves of tall lime-trees, planted in several equal ranks, upon a carpet of grass : the outsides of these groves are

THE QUEEN'S PALACE 9

bordered with tubs of bays and orange trees. At the end of this broad walk, you go up to a terrace four hundred paces long, with a large semicircle in the middle, from whence are beheld the queen's two parks, and a great part of Surrey : then going down a few steps, you walk on the bank of a canal six hundred yards long and seventeen broad with two rows of limes on each side of it.

" On one side of this terrace, a wall, covered jwith roses and jessamines, is made low, to admit the view of a meadow, full of cattle, just under it (no disagreeable object in the midst of a great city) ; and at each end a descent into parterres, with fountains and water- works. From the biggest of these parterres we pass into a little square garden, that has a fountain in the middle, and two green-houses on the sides, with a convenient bathing apartment in one of them, and near another part of it lies a flower-garden. Below all this, a kitchen garden, full of the best sorts of fruits, has several walks in it fit for the coldest weather.

" Thus I have done with a tedious description : only one thing I forgot, though of more satisfaction to me than^alljthe rest, which I fancy you guess already ; and it is a little closet of books, at the end of that green-house which joins the best apartment, which, besides their being so very near, are ranked in such a method, that, by its mark, a very Irish footman may fetch any book I want. Under the windows of this closet and green-house is a little wilderness, full of blackbirds, and nightingales. The trees, though planted by myself, require lopping already, to prevent their hindering the view of that fine canal in the park.

''After all this, to a friend I'll expose my weakness, as an instance of the mind's unquietness under the most pleasing enjoy-

io THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

ments. I am oftener missing a pretty gallery in the old house I pulled down, than pleased with a saloon which I built in its stead, though a thousand times better in all manner of respects."

This house, on the decease of the Duke of Buckingham, came into the possession of the duchess, his widow, a woman of an extraordinary mind. Her character has been drawn at great length by Mr. Pope, and is to be seen in his works. On the premature death of the young duke, the magnificence of whose funeral was long a subject of traditionary narrative among the good old folks of the last century, the title became extinct, and a large portion of the family estates devolved upon the dowager duchess. These she left to her grandson, Constantine Phipps, afterwards created Lord Mulgrave, and the father of the present noble lord of that title. He was her grandson by her first marriage. Mr. Phipps consequently became possessor of Bucking- ham-House, and resided in it, till it was recovered from him by law, by Sir Charles Sheffield, Baronet (a collateral relative of the Duke of Buckingham), of whom it was purchased, in the year 1762, by his present Majesty. At that time it had undergone no alterations ; the gardens were such as the Duke of Buckingham had described them, and the mottos, which it is rather surprising that he omitted in the minutiae of his description, still embellished the center parts of the entablature of the several fronts, in large projecting and gilded letters. They were as follows :

Towards the mall, "sic SITI L^TANTUR LARES."

On the garden front, " RUS IN URBE."

On the northern side, "BIS DAT, QUI CITO DAT."

THE QUEENS PALACE n

The southern front was, without doubt, embellished also with its device, but we have not been able to recover it. Among the earliest alterations, these mottos appear to have been removed.

Soon after his Majesty took possession of this purchase, he began to enlarge and improve it. A considerable portion of the Green Park was added to the garden, and the proposed altera- tions entrusted to the taste of Mr. Brown, the celebrated land- scape-gardener of that period, who destroyed all the sumptuous formality which appears in the Duke of Buckingham's narrative ; and, by a judicious arrangement of plantations, rendered rich by the variety of trees which compose them, has given a character of rural elegance to the inclosure, and, at the same time, formed a screen, to preserve its privacy from the intrusive view of the buildings which have since risen up beyond it.

When it was determined to pull down Somerset- House, which had been settled upon her Majesty as a royal dowager residence, in order to erect the superb corps of public offices which now occupy that situation, it became necessary to find or build a suitable edifice to supply its place, and his Majesty consented to dispose of Buckingham- House for that purpose : accordingly, in the year 1775, it was settled on the Queen. The vote which was passed in Parliament on this occasion, was rendered remarkable by Mr. Burke's peculiar attention to the national character, and the respect due to that of the sovereign ; and which, though in itself of little intrinsic value, should not, from its connection with the immediate subject of our consideration, be passed by unnoticed. When it was moved, in the House of Commons, to vote the sum of money which Buckingham- House had actually cost his Majesty for its original purchase and subsequent improvements, and which

12 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

amounted, we believe, to between seventy and eighty thousand pounds, Mr. Burke observed, that, in a transaction of this nature between Parliament and the Sovereign, it would be disgraceful to confine itself to the fractions of pounds, shillings, and pence ; and therefore moved, as an amendment to the original motion, that the integral sum of one hundred thousand pounds should be voted on the occasion ; and which was accordingly granted. In con- sequence of this settlement, Buckingham- House has been since denominated the Queen's Palace, by which title it is officially represented.

The additions which have been made to this Palace, have been so contrived as to render it a convenient residence for their Majesties and the Princesses ; as well as to form a suite of rooms for the royal collection of books, drawings, maps, plans, &c. Thirteen apartments are occupied by the King, twelve by the Queen, and ten by the Princesses. The library, which has for some time been removing to Windsor, is of the first order ; and, whether we consider the comprehension or the scarcity of its volumes, exceeds any that has been collected by one man. The drawings are very numerous and of high estimation ; while the assemblage of geographical and ichnographical works, is unrivalled. Among the models is one of Gibraltar, on a very large scale. The pictures are by the first masters. Among them are the produc- tions of Annibal and Ludovico Caracci, Guido, Dominichino, Rubens, N. Poussin, Vandyke, Teniers, Canaletti, &c. The cartoons of Raffaelo occupied for some time an apartment in this Palace : they were afterwards removed to Windsor Castle, and have since been returned to their orginal situation at Hampton Court.

THE ROYAL CIRCUS 13

This Palace is now the scene of all official state business connected with the personal acts of the King. Here the councils are held; here his Majesty receives the officers of state, the attend- ance on his levees, and the occasional addresses to his person on the throne. As the apartments are not sufficiently capacious for the Queen's drawing-rooms, they continue to be held at the Palace of St. James.

THE KOYAL CIECUS

THE Royal Circus is situated on the west side of the road leading from Blackfriars-bridge to the obelisk in St. George's-fields, and almost adjoining to the circular area whose center is marked by that object.

Equestrian exercises and exhibitions are among the latest novelties which the inventive genius, that lives by giving variety to public amusements, has produced, and have been brought to an astonishing point of excellence.

About forty years ago, a man excited the curiosity and called forth the wonder of the metroplis, by riding a single horse, on full gallop, while standing upright on the saddle. This person first exhibited in a field near Bancroft's almshouses at Mile-End ; the place was inclosed with boards, to prevent any gratuitous view of the exercise, and the price of admittance was one shilling. The next year, he exhibited himself and his horse in a spacious inclosure near the Five Fields, Chelsea ; and such were the

i4 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

wondering crowds who daily attended the performance, that he acquired a sufficient property to enable him to retire, and establish himself in the principal inn at Derby. His exhibition consisted of little or no variety, but such as arose from the greater or less speed of the horse which he rode, and occasionally, in its course, vaulting over the back of the animal.

Tumbling, rope-dancing, and feats on the wire, had long been the entertainment of the British populace. Sadler's- Wells, on its first establishment, was the scene of these exhibitions, and they formed its principal attractions. Bartholomew and South wark fairs, before the magistrates thought it their duty to suppress the one and contract the other, were enlivened by these performances. Even the itinerant empiric, known by the title of mountebank, a character and a profession which the present enlightened age seems in a great measure to have extinguished, made the circuit of the market towns with some of these agile exhibitors in his company, to attract the country crowds, by whose credulity he was to live.

But though these performers were so common, they were not of English origin, but supplied by the Continent, where they abound, and where children are regularly brought up to these extraordinary and hazardous professions. The equestrian ex- hibitions, however, appear to be of British growth, and are confined to the country which gave them birth : for while the exotic skill of the rope-dancer has been equalled at least, if not excelled, by English professors, we have not heard that the occasional visits of our equestrians to the Continent, have inspired a rival spirit to aim at, much more to acquire, an equal degree of excellence.

THE ROYAL CIRCUS 15

As might be naturally expected, the success of the person who had astonished the public by his exhibition on the back of one horse, encouraged others to attract a proportionable degree of wonder, by employing two and even three horses in the same manner. Female equestrians afterwards appeared ; and as increas- ing success produced an increase of exertions, it was naturally suggested to erect buildings for the more secure, certain, and commodious display of these exercises ; which have since attained a degree of perfection, incredible almost to the eye that beholds them. Other entertainments have since been blended with them. Among the first, and certainly the most costly Theatre of this description, is that which forms the immediate subject of our con- sideration.

The late elegant, capacious, and convenient structure was built by subscription : it was begun the latter end of February 1782 ; and was opened, but in an unlicensed state, though with consider- able dclat, on the fourth of the following November. The opposi- tion of the magistrates, however, obliged it to close in the Christmas holidays ; and in this inactive state it remained till the 1 5th of March, 1783, when it re-opened with the fairest prospect of success, and was licensed, pursuant to act of Parliament, at the next general quarter sessions for the county of Surrey. It was not completely finished till the spring of 1783, when it appeared to have cost near fifteen thousand pounds. It was opened, under the direction of Mr. Hughes, a celebrated horseman, and Mr. Dibdin, so well known for the admirable variety of his talents, with equestrian performances, ballets of action, burlettas, dances, and pantomime. In the course of a few years, Mr. Dibdin with- drew himself from the concern ; and, under different proprietors,

16 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

as well as successive managers, but a good deal troubled with internal divisions and domestic feuds, it continued, with various success, till the year 1798; when Mr. James Jones, and Mr. Cross, the author of so many excellent ballets, spectacles, and melo- drames, became proprietors, undertook the management, and gave stability to the proceedings of the Theatre. Their united endeavours were for several years favoured with the encourage- ment and liberal patronage of the public, when a catastrophe took place, which for a time annihilated this scene of pleasing amusements.

On the 1 2th of August, 1805, this elegant structure, with its extensive scenery, a capital wardrobe, and ample collection of valuable music, was consumed by fire. The conflagation was discovered about half past one in the morning, and, so rapid were the flames, that in the course of a few hours nought remained but a smoaking heap of ruins.

It may be interesting to mention, that on this soil the following, among other theatrical performers, first blossomed ; and from hence they were transplanted to the larger and more highly cultured field of the London theatres : — Mrs. Mountain, when Miss Wilkinson; Mrs. C. Kemble, when Miss Decamp; Mrs. Bland, when Miss Romanzini ; the late Miss Searle, and the Misses Adams ; Mrs. H. Johnson, when Miss Parker ; and Mrs. Wybrow : Mr. Russel and Messrs. Gibbons and Smith, of the late Drury Theatre, and the younger Bologna.

The present superior and extensive edifice soon rose, like a phoenix, from the ashes of the former Theatre ; and, though the building was not commenced till late in November, from designs of Mr. Cabanell, junior, and under his direction, it was com-

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE 17

pleted, and opened on the Easter Monday following, to a numerous and fashionable audience, under the joint controul of five respectable gentlemen as trustees, assisted by the stage management of Mr. Cross. They continued their exertions to render it worthy of the public patronage, till it was, previous to the commencement of the present season, let for a term of years to Mr. Elliston, of the late Theatre Royal in Drury-lane.

The Royal Circus, in its present renewed and improved state, is a very handsome Theatre. The stage is judiciously adapted to the various kinds of amusement which it exhibits, the scenery is various and beautiful, and the audience part offers a very pleasing coup d'ceil of taste and elegance.

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE

THE Royal Exchange may be considered as the emporium of the world ; and, rising in all the majesty of commerce, presents an object which must fill the mind of every Englishman with delight and pride, as a principal support of that greatness which is unrivalled among the nations of the earth.

This magnificent edifice arose from the munificent spirit of a private citizen, Sir Thomas Gresham. His foreign correspondent and agent, Richard Clough, who had originally been his servant, and was afterwards knighted, having reproached the English merchants with transacting their business more like pedlars than

in.-

1 8 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

men of their commercial consequence, and that no foreign trading city was without a commodious place for the public transaction of business, Sir Thomas Gresham, stimulated by this sarcasm, proposed to the corporation of London to erect, at his own expence, a convenient building for merchants to meet in, provided they would procure him a convenient spot for that purpose; which they accordingly did, at the expence of 35 3 2/. Sir Thomas accordingly laid the first stone on the 7th of June, 1566; and in the month of November in the following year, it was com- pleted, under the name of The Bourse.

In the year 1570, Queen Elizabeth went in great state from her palace of Somerset- House, to make Sir Thomas Gresham a visit at his house in Bishopsgate-street, afterwards called Gresham College, and on the site of which the excise-office has been erected. After dinner her majesty was pleased to proceed to the Bourse, visited every part of it, and caused it to be solemnly proclaimed by the heralds, and with the sound of trumpets, THE ROYAL EXCHANGE. The whole of the upper part of this building was then occupied by shops, and, on this solemn occasion, they were filled with the various and most costly productions of the different parts of the globe, in order to display to the sovereign the great prosperity and extensive foreign intercourse of the trading part of her subjects. So late as the beginning of the last century, the galleries were appropriated to shopkeepers ; and, about the middle of it, after the great fire in Cornhill, the unfortunate sufferers were allowed to occupy them, for the purpose of carrying on their respective trades, till their habitations could be rebuilt.

By his last will and testament, dated the 26th of November,

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE 19

1579, Sir Thomas Gresham devised this stately fabric to his lady, and after her death to the mayor and citizens of London, and the company of mercers, to be equally enjoyed and possessed by them, with all its appurtenances, and the profits arising thereby ; on the condition, that the citizens, out of their moiety, should pay a salary of fifty pounds per annum each to four lecturers, to read lectures in divinity, astronomy, music, and geometry, in his mansion-house ; and to pay six pounds thirteen shillings and four-pence per annum each to certain almshouses in Broad-street; and ten pounds yearly to each of the prisons of Newgate, Ludgate, King's Bench, Marshalsea, and Wood-street compter : while the mercers, out of their moiety, were to pay fifty pounds per annum each to three lecturers, to read lectures in law, physic, and rhetoric, in his mansion-house ; and one hundred pounds per annum, for four quarterly dinners, at their own hall, for the entertainment of the whole company ; and ten pounds yearly each, to Christ's, St. Bartholomew's, Bethlehem, and St. Thomas's hospitals, to the Spital, and to the Poultry compter. There does not appear to be any record which states the expence of this noble edifice ; but it appears, from authentic documents, that the annual rents paid to Lady Gresham, his widow, amounted to seven hundred and fifty-one pounds.

Hollar has left us some fine views of the original building, which was destroyed by the great fire in 1666. It soon arose, however, like a phoenix, in its present magnificent form, from the ashes of the former edifice, by the united efforts of the corporation of London and the company of mercers, at the expence of eighty thousand pounds ; an enormous sum at that period. The model of the present structure was first shewn to his Majesty Charles II.

20 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

who approved the design, and honoured the superb undertaking by laying the first stone, in 1667. The building must have proceeded with an uncommon rapidity of execution ; for we find that, on the 28th of September, 1669, it was opened by the lord mayor, Sir William Turner, who congratulated the merchants in a speech appropriate to the occasion. The following inscription recorded the interesting event in terms expressive of the honour due to the original founder :

Hoc Greshamii Peristyllmm,

Gentium commerciis sacrum,

Flammis extinctum 1666, Augustius e cinere resurrexit 1669, Whilhelmo Turnero milite, prsetore.

During the first century after its erection, the appearance of the people of different nations, on their respective walks and in their various habits, formed a most attractive and striking spectacle ; but that beautiful effect has long since been lost in the present undistinguishing uniformity of dress among the European nations.

The Royal Exchange is situated on the north side of Cornhill. It has two principal fronts, one in Cornhill, and the other in Threadneedle-street : each of them has a piazza, which gives a stately air to the respective elevations ; and in the center are the grand entrances into the area beneath lofty arches, producing a very noble effect. The architecture of this edifice is of a mixed kind, and consequently in a bad taste, and where, in the multiplicity of parts, it is in vain to look for that simplicity, without which beauty is not to be produced. At the same time it must be allowed, that the principal outlines are not without pretensions

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE 21

to elegance, and some of the parts may be separately considered with pleasure.

The ground-plot, which is quadrangular, is two hundred and three feet in length, and one hundred and seventy-one feet in breadth. The area contains sixty-one square perches, and is surrounded with a substantial and regular stone building, wrought in rustic, with a spacious piazza, which serves as an ambulatory, as well as a protection from the inclemency of the weather.

The principal front is to the south, and, on each side of the entrance, are Corinthian columns, supporting a compass pediment; and in the intercolumniations, in niches, are the statues of Charles I. and Charles II. in Roman habits, in a good style of sculpture. Over the aperture on the cornice between the two pediments, are the royal arms in alto-relievo. On each side of this "entrance is a range of windows placed between demi-columns and pilasters of the composite order, above which the building finishes in a balustrade. From the center in this front (which, with the rest of the main building, is fifty-six feet high) rises a lantern and turret, one hundred and seventy-eight feet in height, on the top of which is a fane in the form of a grasshopper, that insect being the crest of Sir Thomas Gresham's arms. It is made of brass very highly polished, and is esteemed a well- wrought piece of workmanship. The north front, in Thread- needle-street, is adorned with pilasters of the composite order, but has not the decoration either of columns or statues.

Over the arches of the piazza surrounding the inner area, is an entablature, decorated with pilasters, standing round the whole, and a pediment in the center of the cornice on each of the four sides. Under that of the north side are the king's arms;

22 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

on the south are those of the city ; on the east the arms of Sir Thomas Gresham, and on the west those of the mercers' company, with their respective enrichments. In the intercolumniations there are twenty-four niches ; twenty of which are filled with the statues of the kings and queens in their royal robes ; the other four are in the Roman costume.

The statues on the south side are those of Edward I. Edward III. Henry V. and Henry VI. ; on the west side those of Edward IV. Edward V. with the crown suspended over his head, Henry VII. and Henry VIII.; on the north side are Edward VI. Mary, Elizabeth, James I. Charles I. Charles II. and James II.; and on the east side are William and Mary in one niche, Queen Anne, George I. George II. and George III.

In the center of the area is placed, on a marble pedestal, another statue of Charles II. in a Roman habit, and guarded by an iron railing. On the south side of the pedestal, surmounted by various appropriate decorations, is the following inscription :

Carolo II. Csesari Britannico,

Patriae patri,

Regum Optimo, clementissimo, augustissimo,

Generis human! deliciis,

Utriusque fortunae victori,

Pacis Europae arbitro,

Marium domino ac vindici,

Societas mercatorum adventur. Angliae

Quae per CCCC. jam prope annos

Regia benignitate floret, Fidei intemeratae et gratitudinis aeternae,

Hoc testimonium

Venerabunda posuit,

Anno Salutis Humanae MDCLXXXIV.

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE 23

On the west side of the pedestal is cut, in relievo, a Cupid, resting his right hand on a shield, containing the arms of France and England quartered, and holding a rose in his left.

On the north side, a Cupid supports a shield with the arms of Ireland.

On the south side is the following inscription on the base of the pedestal :

This statue was repaired and beautified by the company of merchant adventurers of England, anno 1730. — John Hanbury, Esq. governor.

On the east side are the arms of Scotland, supported by a Cupid holding a thistle.

The statues of the kings, as far as Charles, were chiefly executed by Gabriel Cibber : that of Charles II. in the center, was undertaken by Gibbons, but executed by Quillin of Antwerp. The statue of our excellent and beloved sovereign was produced by the chisel of Wilton, and does little credit to the artist : it is in a Roman habit, and the baton of command appears in the left hand ; an egregious violation of classical propriety.

Under the interior range of piazzas are twenty-eight niches, which are all vacant except two ; one in the north-west angle, which contains the statue of Sir Thomas Gresham, in the habit of the times, and is the workmanship of Cibber ; while that of Sir John Barnard, Knight, alderman of London, who repre- sented the city in five successive Parliaments, with distinguished zeal, ability, and integrity graces the niche in the south-west angle : it appears in the civic robes, and tradition describes it as bearing a very striking resemblance to the distinguished citizen whom it represents. It was not the spirit of party, it was not any

24 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

sudden popular emotion, or a corporation cabal, that placed this statue in its honourable and respected situation ; but the unanimous gratitude of the merchants of London, who paid their tribute of veneration to the living merit of this illustrious citizen, for his eminent services to the commerce of his country. It is well known, that, after this high distinction had been conferred on him, he never more appeared on the Royal Exchange. Nor will it surely be thought superfluous to mention, that, while the merchants of London gave this public and rare testimony of regard to Sir John Barnard, Lord Cobham added his bust to those of the illustrious men and distinguished patriots, to perpetuate whose pre-eminent characters and memorable virtues, he erected the temple of British worthies in his magnificent gardens at Stow, in the county of Buckingham.

Under the north and south fronts of this extensive area are spacious staircases, which lead to a gallery that extends through the four sides of the building, and which formerly afforded space for two hundred shops (as has been already observed), for milliners, haberdashers, and other retail dealers ; but they are now occupied by the Lord Mayor's court-office, the Royal Exchange assurance-office, the merchants seamen's office, Lloyd's subscription coffee-houses, the rooms appropriated for the Gresham lectures, and counting-houses for merchants and underwriters. The shops in the lower part of the building are employed by stock-brokers, lottery-office-keepers, and various retail traders. Under the whole are vaults, which have been employed by the East India Company as magazines for pepper.

In the area, and under the surrounding piazza, the merchants daily assemble ; but the time of the greatest resort is from three

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE 25

to four, when the visiter may view an assembly which is not to be seen in any country, and may be considered as a principal support of the grandeur of his own.

It would be affectation, if not presumption, to offer those senti- ments which suggest themselves on the splendour, the dignity, and character of British commerce, arising from this review of the stately edifice which may be considered as the throne of it, when they have been so admirably prepared for us by the com- prehensive mind, the descriptive powers, and elegant pen of Mr. Addison. In the sixty-fourth number of the Spectator he thus expresses himself:

" There is no place in town which I so much love to frequent as the Royal Exchange. It gives me a secret satisfaction, and, in some measure, gratifies my vanity, as I am an Englishman, to see so rich an assembly of countrymen and foreigners consulting together upon the private business of mankind, and making this metropolis a kind of emporium for the whole earth. I look upon High Change to be a great council, in which all considerable nations have their representatives. Factors in the trading world are what ambassadors are in the politic world. They negociate affairs, conclude treaties, and maintain a good correspondence between those wealthy societies that are divided from one another by seas and oceans, and live at the different extremities of a continent.

"There are not more useful members of a commonwealth than merchants. They knit mankind together in a mutual intercourse of good offices, distribute the gifts of nature, find work for the poor, add wealth to the rich, and magnificence to the great. Our English merchant converts the tin of his own country into gold,

26 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

and exchanges his wool for rubies. The Mahometans are clothed in our British manufacture, and the inhabitants of the frozen zone are warmed with the fleeces of our sheep.

" When I have been upon the Change, I have often fancied one of our kings standing in person, where he is represented in effigy, and looking down upon the wealthy concourse of people with which that place is every day filled. In this case, how would he be surprised to hear all the languages of Europe spoken in this little spot of his former dominions ; and to see so many private men, who, in his time, would have been the vassals of some powerful baron, negociating like princes for greater sums of money than were formerly to be met in the royal treasury ! Trade, without enlarging the British territories, has given us a kind of additional empire : it has mutiplied the number of the rich, made our landed estates infinitely more valuable than they were formerly, and added to them a succession of other estates as valuable as the lands themselves."

27

KOYAL INSTITUTION

THE Royal Institution of Great Britain is an establish- ment, whose objects are so extensive, and whose utility is of such general application, that it could not wait for the slow progress from infancy to manhood : its first appearance required the distinctions of maturity ; and, like the Minerva of the pagan mythology, who may indeed be considered as its symbol, displayed itself at once, with all the attributes belonging to its character.

It was indebted for its origin to the noblemen and gentlemen composing the society for bettering the condition of the poor, at whose meetings the plan of its foundations was first formed : while the organization of the whole, and the adapting it to the purposes for which it was designed, must be attributed to the talents and exertions of Count Rumford.

The objects which this splendid establishment professes to have in view, are, the advancement and diffusion of useful knowledge, and the application of experimental science to the purposes of life ; while, by the felicity of its arrangements, it is made, as it were, a school for the higher decorations, as well as the scientific instruction of the human mind. At the same time, its dispensa- tions are so shaped and communicated, and so blended also with the accomplishments of superior education, as to improve and

28 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

consolidate the mass of knowledge in those ranks of society where it administers to the honour, the ornament, and the usefulness of life, without being necessary to its support. Thus to its scientific advantages may be added its important moral tendency. But this is not all.

The beneficial consequences resulting to national character from a diffusion of knowledge, are demonstrably evident ; but how are they heightened and enlarged when they involve the sex, whose influence is so great on general manners, and who add so much to the decoration, the delight, and the consolations of life. How much, therefore, will society be indebted to a system of instruction, which, by its elegant accommodations and tasteful exterior, may predispose the mind of female youth of rank and fortune to receive it ; and it need not surely be added, how the understanding will be strengthened, improved, and enlarged by the reception. In such a path of pleasure a rose will be found without a thorn, and the Syren will be heard to sing the song of wisdom.

The Royal Institution is under the government and direction of a committee of managers, consisting of the president, fifteen managers, and the secretary, who are chosen by and from among the proprietors, one third of whom annually vacate their office, when they are either re-elected, or others are chosen in their place. There is also a committee of visiters, consisting of the president, fifteen visiters, and the treasurer, whose duty it is to examine the state of the Institution at least once in three months.

The property of the premises in Albemarle-street, is vested by charter in the CORPORATION OF PROPRIETORS OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN. These premises are very

ROYAL INSTITUTION 29

extensive, the ground covered by the principal edifice having been allotted for four houses for private families : nor are they less convenient, having been admirably fitted up, and adapted to all the purposes of the establishment.

On entering the hall of the Institution, the visiter passes, on the right, to the first reading-room, which is appropriated to the foreign papers. It is lighted up every evening, and on the table are found seven foreign gazettes, from different parts of the Continent, in the French and German languages, which are regularly taken in, and arrive by the earliest conveyance. This communicates with the second or principal reading-room, which is twenty-six feet long by twenty-four feet wide ; has been fitted up in a very complete and elegant manner, and furnished with bookcases on three sides of the room, capable of containing three thousand eight hundred volumes. The accommodations for those who frequent this room have been greatly augmented. There are two mahogany tables of considerable length, covered with green cloth, which are placed parallel to each other, on opposite sides of the room, and lighted every evening by three Grecian lamps, of one light each, suspended from the ceiling. On these tables are found fifty-four foreign and domestic periodical publications in science and literature, which are regularly supplied. In this room is the busto of his Majesty, who is the patron of the Institution, and those of Bacon and Newton.

Behind the hall is the room containing the collection of minerals and fossils, the arrangement of which has been completed under the direction of Mr. Davy, the chemical professor.

On the left of the hall is the clerk's office, and beyond that is the room appropriated to the reading of the domestic newspapers,

30 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

twelve of which are regularly taken in. It has also been furnished with a collection of the best geographical maps and charts that were to be procured ; and which were selected by the advice and with the assistance of that able geographer, Major Rennell. The maps are fitted up in a novel and most convenient manner, which contributes much to the economy of space and the preservation of them.

On this floor, also, is the room called the repository, which is forty-four feet long and thirty-five feet wide. The ceiling and the floor of the theatre, which is above it, are supported by two rows of handsome columns. In this apartment is contained the apparatus belonging to the Institution, and which is used at the different lectures delivered by the professors. There are also models of curious and useful machines, and a considerable number of specimens of newly invented mechanical contrivances.

On ascending a most elegant staircase, there is a room on the right, which has been lately appropriated to the reception of the apparatus to be employed in the lectures as they are respectively delivered. This apartment necessarily communicates with the lecture-room, which is acknowledged to be one of the most beau- tiful and commodious scientific theatres in Europe. It is so favourable to the propagation of sound, that though it is sufficiently capacious to contain one thousand persons, a whisper may be distinctly heard from one extremity of it to the other, and not the slightest echo is distinguishable on any occasion. It is, besides, so contrived that daylight may be entirely excluded in a moment, by lowering the movable ceiling of the lantern which communicates the light from above, and allowing it to rest on the cornice which forms the finishing decoration of the lower

ROYAL INSTITUTION 31

part of the lantern, just above the level of the flat part of the ceiling of the room.

The form of this theatre is semicircular, with an addition of a parallelogram, equal in length to the diameter of the circular part, which is sixty feet, and fifteen feet in breadth. There are eleven rows of seats, rising above each other, below, and three in the gallery. A covered circular passage of eight feet wide is formed round the room without, under the higher rows of seats, and four convenient openings or vomitories, with eight doors of two wings, which shut of themselves without noise, forming so many communications between the lower part of the theatre and the arched gallery or passage without.

The floors and seats are painted of a dark green, and the latter are covered with green moreen cushions. The floor of the circular passage, and the stairs belonging to the vomitories, are covered with green cloth, to prevent the footsteps of those who come in or go out of the theatre, from being heard during the delivery of the lecture.

This theatre is warmed in cold weather by steam, which, coming in by covered and concealed tubes from the lower part of the house, circulates in a large semicircular copper tube, eight inches in diameter, and upwards of sixty feet in length, which passes beneath the rising seats.

During the session of the Institution several courses of lectures, connected with the objects of that establishment, are delivered in the theatre. Humphry Davy, Esq. F.R.S. is professor of chemistry, and delivers a course on that science to crowded audiences. His manner is very attractive, and his delivery grace- ful. He has the happy art of blending with profound science

32 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

a popular mode of treating his subject ; and, in the progress of his experiments, he has made several important discoveries in the science which he undertakes to illustrate. There are also on the establishment professors of natural philosophy, moral philosophy, of belles lettres, and of poetry. Besides the lectures on each of these classes of science and literature, there are various other courses delivered every session by gentlemen of acknow- ledged merit and popular character.

On the second floor are apartments for the professors and those officers belonging to the establishment, to whom the managers have thought proper to allot rooms for their more convenient attendance on the business of the Institution.

On the basement story is the kitchen, which was fitted up with stoves, roasters, and boilers, according to the plans of Count Rumford, as published in his Essays ; but a part of these have been lately removed. It also contains a variety of new and useful utensils and implements of cookery, which are exposed to view, so as to be easily understood, and their merit appreciated.

On the same floor is the chemical laboratory, which has lately been fitted up, according to a plan of one of the managers, on a scale of magnitude hitherto unattempted in this country, with suitable accommodations for the proprietors and subscribers who may attend the experimental lectures delivered here by the professor of chemistry. In this laboratory there is a provision made for placing and using sixteen furnaces of different kinds at the same time ; and it has been furnished, under the direction of the committee of chemistry, with a very complete chemical apparatus, and also with a considerable provision of materials necessary in making chemical experiments.

P S

2 S S *

M ^

£ s

ROYAL INSTITUTION 33

The library and collection of books of reference (of which the print that accompanies this page is a correct representation), though intimately connected with the objects of the Royal Institution, form a distinct department of the establishment. The original managers, in their prospectus, pledged themselves to the public for the formation of a library, comprehending "the best treatises on the subjects for which the Institution is established, as well as those publications of academies and journals of repute, which exhibit the transactions of ingenious men in every part of the world."

The collection formed in the principal reading-room, compre- hending the most approved periodical works in science and literature, foreign and domestic, demonstrates, that the managers were not inattentive to this interesting part of their engagements, notwithstanding the heavy expenditure which they were obliged to incur, for the necessary accommodation of the proprietors and subscribers in general, both in the extensive buildings which have been erected, the purchase of an expensive scientific apparatus, and other contingencies connected with the first establishment of the Institution. To have carried more fully into effect the formation of a library, though strictly limited to the objects of its original establishment, would have pressed on the funds of the Institution to a greater extent than prudence could warrant.

In consideration of these circumstances, a proposal was sub- mitted to a committee of the managers and visiters of the Institution, comprehending the outlines of a plan for the comple- tion of the library below stairs, with the addition of another collection of books of reference, on an extended plan, without lessening the funds of the establishment ; and several of the

III. — D

34 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

proprietors who had already largely contributed to the library in its infant state, again testified their zeal by subscribing upwards of five thousand pounds for this purpose, reserving to each subscriber of fifty pounds and upwards, the privilege of intro- ducing or recommending some one scientific or literary person to have access to the collection of reference only for a limited time. This proposal was unanimously approved by the committee, and soon after carried into effect ; and the small lecture-room on the first floor, which is forty-eight feet long, twenty-six feet wide, and fourteen feet high, was fitted up to receive the collection of reference, with a gallery at the height of seven feet from the floor, so that every book may be within reach, either from the floor of the room, or from that of the gallery. The print which accompanies this page correctly represents it.

An opportunity immediately presented itself by the death of Thomas Astle, Esq. F.R.S. and S.A. and keeper of the records in the Tower of London, of laying the foundation of the proposed collection, by the purchase of his inestimable library, consisting of all the most valuable books relating to the topography, antiquities, parliamentary, numismatic, and general history of Great Britain : and since that period no opportunity has been omitted to increase the collection, by the purchase of scarce and valuable books in the various branches of science and literature.

The library and collection of books of reference are vested in the corporation, and are under the same direction and government as the other parts of the Institution ; subject only to certain privileges enjoyed by those proprietors who qualify themselves as patrons of this branch of it. Proprietors subscribing one

ROYAL INSTITUTION 35

hundred pounds or upwards to the library, are hereditary patrons, and those subscribing fifty pounds or upwards, and not amounting to one hundred pounds, are patrons for life. The library is open every day on which the Institution is open, except Monday, from twelve to four o'clock, for the proprietors and subscribers, as well as for those scientific or literary persons who may be introduced or recommended by the patrons.

The funds of the Institution arise from the payments made by the proprietors and subscribers, the latter of whom are divided into two classes, those for life, and those paying an annual sum. The proprietors originally paid the sum of fifty guineas, which has been increased at various times : it has now reached one hundred guineas, and the number of subscribers limited to three hundred and seventy-four, which is completed. The life sub- scribers originally paid the sum of ten guineas on their election, which has been increased at different times to thirty guineas. The annual subscribers pay four guineas.

The yearly subscription to the lectures for ladies is two guineas ; but the annual payment of the wives and unmarried daughters of proprietors is settled at one guinea. The managers have re- quested a number of ladies of the highest respectability, to hold books for the purpose of recommending ladies who wish to subscribe to the lectures ; and no lady can be admitted but on the recommendation of one of those distinguished patronesses.

The proprietors, together with the subscribers and honorary members, have the right of admission to all the public lectures and experiments, as well as to the repository, laboratory, and workshops ; and have, in short, the sole and exclusive use of the establishment. The proprietors, also, have each one transferable

36 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

ticket, which is renewed annually, and admits the bearer to the lectures and public experiments, as well as to the repository, but not to the rooms of the subscribers.

The managers have the privilege to admit to the lectures and to the repository, as well as to the subscribers' rooms, the ambassadors, envoys, and ministers of foreign princes and states, resident at the court of London ; as well as other foreigners of high rank, or of distinguished scientific character, who may occasionally visit this country.

The house of the Institution is open from nine in the morning till half past eleven o'clock at night, every day in the year except Sundays, Christmas-day, Good Friday, and days appointed for public fasts and thanksgivings.

The fabric of the Royal Institution is completed upon a scale of magnitude, and with a degree of excellence, that have not been equalled by the efforts of any individuals in any other country or period of the world. To preserve, enlarge, and extend such an admirable establishment, and to render it gener- ally and unexceptionably beneficial, — zeal, attention, and co- operation will be required. The attempt has been as arduous as the object has been important ; — no less than that of giving fashion to science, and of forming in the metropolis of the empire, a center of philosophical and literary attraction, for supplying instruction to the young, and rational amusement to mature life : promising, at the same time, essential advantages to the public, and an increase of resources to the country, by new discoveries and improvements in arts and manufactures, as well as in the use and application of the [mines and other subterraneous treasures of the various parts of the .British dominions ; and by the applica-

SADLER'S WELLS 37

tion of science and chemical investigation to the cultivation of the soil, and in aid of the practical experience of agriculture.

The following arrangement of the lectures has been made for the present year, 1809:

Lectures on experimental chemistry, electro-chemical science, and geology, by H. Davy, Esq. sec. R.S.

On mechanical philosophy, by William Allen, Esq. F.R.S.

On astronomy, by John Pond, Esq. F.R.S.

On botany, by James Edward Smith, M.D. pres. Lin. Soc. and F.R.S.

On history and poetry, by the Rev. W. Crowe, public orator in the university of Oxford.

On music, by Mr. Samuel Wesley.

On perspective, by Mr. John George Ward.

SADLEK'S WELLS

A[ONG the minor Theatres which offer their various enter- tainments to the public during the summer season, this place has the claim of long seniority, and the oldest person now living may remember it, as affording them delight when they were children.

It appears to have originated in a well, which belonged to the monks of the priory of St. John, Clerkenwell. Its waters, which were chalybeate, had the character of possessing very salubrious qualities ; and, from the cures which were performed, or supposed

38 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

to be performed, by the use of them, the religious brotherhood derived a very considerable revenue ; as they had taught the people to believe that their prayers were essential to the efficacy of the spring. It was accordingly named the holy or sacred well ; and the popular superstition having given it sufficient importance to attract the attention of those who had the conduct of carrying the objects of the Reformation into effect, on account of the impositions it occasioned, it was ordered to be closed, and a termination put to its pretended miraculous powers.

During the period of its sanctity and its celebrity, the concourse of visiters had been so great, as to induce those to whom the immediate care of it was entrusted, to enliven the scene with music, and a band of musicians constantly attended for that purpose : but as the arm of secular power had withdrawn the principal cause of attraction to the place, it immediately declined ; the music ceased, and the waters, with all their healing properties, were thought of no more. Some kind of traditionary character seems, nevertheless, to have attached itself to the place ; for a Mr. Sadler, who was a surveyor of the highways, afterwards rebuilt the music-house, which he opened for musical and dancing recreation; and in the year 1683, the once celebrated well was discovered by one of his labourers while he was digging in the garden. The character which it had acquired seemed to have been regarded, and superstition had been allowed to respect the closing of it, as it appeared to have been carefully arched over with stone, to protect it from any profane intrusion ; but there is no authority to determine that it was again resorted to for medicinal purposes : though, as it has given a name to the place, it is most probable that Mr. Sadler derived some advantage from

SADLER'S WELLS 39

its former reputation. The chalybeate spring now runs to waste under the present Theatre.

At his death, he was succeeded by Francis Forcer, a musician and composer, who may be presumed, from his professional qualifications, to have improved the amusements of the place. At his decease it became the property of his son, who was a barrister at law. He enlarged the premises, gave them somewhat of a theatrical form, and added to the circle of its entertainments, by the introduction of tumbling, rope-dancing, and other perform- ances of dexterity and deception. Mr. Forcer, junior, continued in the possession and management of Sadler's Wells, till the year 1 730, when he died at a very advanced age.

Mr. Rosoman, a celebrated harlequin, and a rival of Mr. Rich, now became the purchaser of these premises, which he rebuilt in a new form, with a pit, boxes, galleries, and regular orchestra, and greatly improved the circle of its entertainments. As might be naturally expected, and for the display of his own particular talents, he appropriately introduced the pantomime and har- lequinade ; to which he added the simple burletta, consisting of little more than some of the old English ballads, converted into dialogue, and sung, with a trifling variation, to their original tunes. He even ventured on what would now be denominated a ballet of action. In the summer of the year 1746, the battle of Culloden, which had been fought and gained in the preceding April, by William, Duke of Cumberland, formed a most popular representa- tion, and was displayed in all its costume at this Theatre. While two hostile parties of cavalry contested for the possession of a bridge at the end of the stage, the infantry contended on the front of it ; and the whole terminated in triumphant songs and dances

40 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

suited to the occasion, and a proud exhibition of this important and exhilarating victory. Hogarth's prints of the Harlot's Progress were dramatized, and completely represented in all their parts, about this time, on this stage, with appropriate songs and recitative. The duet between the heroine of the piece and the Jew, which forms such a beautiful and characteristic picture, never failed to be loudly encored. The music, which we believe to have been composed by Lampe, no ordinary musician, was very pretty ; and the songs were as great favourites among the middling classes, as those of the Beggar s Opera had been among the higher orders of society.

Mr. Rosoman, who appears to have understood his business, continued to invite all the most distinguished performers in his line of amusements, to his assistance. The first dancing on the wire, by a Mr. Maddox, with his wonderful skill in balancing, was seen at this place ; and the similar exhibitions of Miss Wilkinson excited the wonder, and consequently attracted the attendance of the public. At this time, the sides of the Theatre were occupied by two tiers of galleries, which, it may be supposed, were of equal price, as there were communications between them by trap- doors, through which there was easy ascent or descent, as fancy might suggest. These galleries were flat, with one long seat attached to the wall : the others were movable forms ; so that the company, between the acts, might enjoy the variety of a promenade. Drinking was also allowed and very generally practised in the Theatre ; as all persons, on paying for admit- tance, received a ticket for a proportionate quantity of wine, and if they pleased, might call for more. This custom, which is more honoured in the breach than in the observance, has been wholly

SADLER'S WELLS 41

laid aside. Mr. Rosoman, it is said, rendered it an advantageous undertaking ; and a considerable row of houses, which he built in Clerkenwell, still continues to bear his name.

The succeeding possessors of Sadler's Wells were, that eminent comedian, Mr. King, and a Mr. Serjeant, who held, we believe, some respectable office in Covent-Garden Theatre. The building now underwent great alterations, and was improved into a regular Theatre, in all its parts. Mr. Wroughton, of Drury-lane Theatre, and others, succeeded Mr. King ; and after some time, the late Mr. Siddons joined the theatric firm.

In the year 1802, the whole concern was purchased by the present proprietors, who consist of Messrs. C. and T. Dibdin, Mr. Reeve the composer, Mr. Andrews the scene-painter, and some other persons associated with them ; and the Theatre has received, from the taste and judgment of its latter and immediate proprietors, a succession of elegant and commodious improvements.

The principal alterations which have taken place under the present administration of its amusements, are, the total omission of rope-dancing and tumbling, and the admirable addition of aquatic representations, which its vicinity to the New River enables it to produce to very great advantage. The novelty of these exhibitions, with the variety of circumstance which may be brought to render them interesting, and the beautiful addition to scenery which may be derived from such a plenitude of water, cannot fail to increase the attractions of this long established place of public amusement.

The print which illustrates this description, displays the stage in a state of aquatic representation.

SESSIONS-HOUSE, CLEEKENWELL

Wr H ETHER architecture may be considered as an art or a science, or partaking of both, necessity has made it universal. Every structure is raised for some par- ticular end ; nor can it be denied, that the most obvious and simple means are the best to obtain it. When a consistent and uniform plan is prepared, when all its uses may be comprehended at a single glance, and they appear to be reasonable and perfect,— then the architect is at liberty to add grandeur and elegance to strength and propriety, and to finish the whole with the full splendour of grace and beauty.

When Lord Chesterfield was reproached for giving his fine house in Stanhope-street, so plain an exterior, he replied, that he did not live on the outside of it. Such a smart saying as this may be applied to private habitations ; but public buildings of every denomination require a certain degree of characteristic effect and decoration. They may be said to belong to the nation ; and all national works, without engaging in frivolous or superabundant expence, should possess a certain degree of magnificence and beauty, suited to their respective characters and offices, as well as to the dignity of the nation which erects them. We have a very pleasing example of this opinion in the edifice which we are about to describe.

In the year 1612, Sir Baptist Hicks, who had been an eminent mercer in Cheapside, and afterwards retired to Kensington, being

SESSIONS-HOUSE, CLERKENWELL 43

one of the justices of the peace for the county of Middlesex, erected a building, at his own private expence, in St. John's- street, Clerkenwell, about an hundred yards north of West Smithfield, for the accommodation of the magistrates, who, before that time, used to transact their business at the Castle Inn. In this edifice the sessions were afterwards held, and the public affairs of the county transacted ; and, in honour of its founder, it was thenceforward denominated Hicks's Hall. It appears also, from an ancient inscription in the committee-room of the present Sessions- House to commemorate the gift, that, in the year 1618, being eleven years before his death, which happened in the year 1629, Sir Baptist Hicks, with the same public spirit which first suggested the erection of this useful building, presented it to his brethren, the magistrates of the county of Middlesex, and their successors for ever.

It was a plain brick edifice, with a portico at the entrance ; and its publicity was increased by the remarkable circumstance, that the miles on the great northern road were computed, for a con- siderable distance, from Hicks's Hall, and were thus engraved on the mile-stones. Even since its demolition, the spot on which it stood continues to retain its original distinction as a point of mensuration.

In the course of time, however, this Sessions- House was found to be in such a ruinous condition, as to require a very general repair ; while, from the vast accession of county business, it was become extremely inconvenient, from its inadequate dimensions and proportionate want of accommodation. The magistrates, therefore, in the year 1778, made an application to Parliament, for an act to enable them to sell this antiquated building, and to

44 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

erect another upon a more enlarged plan and in a more com- modious situation. Such an act was consequently obtained ; and, being thus empowered, they purchased a piece of ground on Clerkenwell Green, to carry their desirable object into execution ; and accordingly the first stone of the new Court- House was laid, on the 20th August, 1779, by his Grace the late Duke of Northumberland, the lord lieutenant, accompanied by Sir John Hawkins, Knight, the chairman, and a considerable body of the magistrates of the county of Middlesex.

On the ist of July, 1782, the new Sessions-House was opened by Mr. Mainwaring, chairman of the bench of justices, who delivered a very comprehensive and appropriate charge to the grand jury on the occasion.

This structure, which was built from the architectural design of Mr. Rogers, possesses a considerable degree of merit, both as to exterior appearance and interior arrangements. It may be said indeed to rival, if not excel, any court-house in the kingdom, combining an elegance of design with every appropriate accom- modation. The principal front is of stone, whose basement story is rustic, with arched windows. The central parts have a slight projection, and are ornamented with four Ionic columns, which support an angular pediment, and at each extremity of the eleva- tion is a pilaster of the same order. The central intercolumniation has a large arched window, as have the two lateral intercolumnia- tions, over which are the fasces and the sword dependant, in relief ; the insignia of authority and punishment. The others, on each side of the center, contain windows which are not arched, the upper spaces being occupied by two upright ovals, enriched with the figures of Justice and Mercy, with their attributes, in

SESSION HOUSE,

SESSIONS-HOUSE, CLERKENWELL 45

relief. In the one Justice is represented as holding the scales and the sword, and in the other Mercy grasps a pointless sword and a sceptre, on the top of which is the British crown ; whereon, as emblematic of the British laws, there appears a dove, with an olive-branch in its mouth. The center between these ovals is decorated with a medallion of his present Majesty, in profile, enlivened with festoons of laurel and oak leaves, the emblems of strength and valour. The space within the pediment displays the arms of the county, with suitable ornaments.

The dimensions of the building are one hundred and ten feet from east to west, and seventy-eight feet from north to south.

The hall, which forms the entrance, is a very handsome room ; it is a square of thirty-four feet, and is crowned with a circular dome, enlightened by six circular windows, whose diameter is four feet eleven inches. The dome is panelled in stucco, and the spandrils beneath it are decorated with oak-leaves and shields. The sides of the hall are finished with pilasters, the frieze of whose entablature is ornamented with foliage and medallions, representing the caduceus of Mercury and the Roman fasces.

From the hall, of which the design that accompanies this page gives a very accurate representation, a double flight of steps leads up to the court, through a separation formed by a screen of glass, producing a very light and beautiful effect. The court is in the form of a Roman D, and is thirty-four feet by thirty, and twenty- six feet in height, with spacious galleries on either side, for the accommodation of those whom business, instruction, or curiosity may lead to attend the proceedings of it.

On the right of the entrance is a large room appropriated for the grand juries ; and on the left is an apartment of equal size,

46 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

which is employed as a committee- room for the magistrates, where the public accounts are audited, and other business, connected with the county, is transacted. Above these rooms, and occupy- ing the whole length of the building, is a large saloon, in which the magistrates dine in session, after the business of the day is concluded. In one of these rooms is the original portrait of Sir Baptist Hicks, which was brought from the old Sessions- House, with the arms and ornaments that decorated the chimneypiece of the dining-room there ; and in another is a good copy of the same picture.

On one side of the building are the housekeeper's apartments, and on the other, different necessary offices attached to the building. In the back part of it, on the ground floor, is the dock, where prisoners who are brought from Newgate, the House of Correction, or New Prison, are kept till trial.

In the record-room are preserved the proceedings of the courts of sessions, and the records of the county for several centuries.

To defray the expences of this Court- House, the magistrates were empowered, by the act of Parliament, to borrow money out of the orphans' fund of the city of London, which, with the accruing interest, was secured by a county rate.

Eight times in the year a session is held here, under a com- mission of the peace and a commission of oyer and terminer, for the trial of prisoners indicted for perjury, misdemeanours, assaults, and nuisances committed in the county of Middlesex. The chairman of the session, who presides as judge, is elected twice a year by the magistrates at large, and the bench is composed of such justices as chuse to attend.

This elegant structure would have appeared with a very superior

SOCIETY OF ARTS 47

effect, if it had been placed on the upper, instead of the lower, end of Clerkenwell Green. But, we presume, there were pre- dominant reasons, with whose influence we are unacquainted, which rendered such an obvious advantage impracticable.

SOCIETY

INSTITUTED IN LONDON FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ARTS, MANUFACTURES, AND COMMERCE

THE institution of this excellent Society is a striking proof of the great advantages which an active mind can produce ; and the consideration of what one man has here effected, will necessarily give a stimulus to the faculties of others, in prosecuting grand objects.

In the year 1754, Mr. Wm. Shipley, a person of small fortune, but of a strong mind, first formed the idea of an establishment upon this principle ; and, encouraged by Lord Folkstone and Lord Romney, on the 22d of March, in the abovementioned year, the first meeting was held at Rathmill's coffee-house, in Henrietta-street, Covent-Garden, at which eleven persons only were present, and the outlines of the establishment formed. The idea of such an institution was so well received by the public, that few societies ever increased so rapidly ; and probably the nation at large never received more real benefit and advantage,

48 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

than has resulted from the exertions of the members, who have given their time and attention to the promotion of the great views of this institution. This will be apparent to every one who will attend to the state of the arts and manufactures, whether mechanical or chemical, in this country at that period, and compare them with their present state ; when it will be found, that the foundations of innumerable advantages have been laid by the premiums bestowed, and the hints which have been suggested from this Society.

In the dawn of this establishment, Mr. Shipley gratuitously filled the offices of secretary, register, and collector ; and on the first gold medal of the Society being struck, he was complimented with it, and this memorable inscription — " Whose public spirit gave rise to this Society." This worthy man has lately paid the great debt to nature, after witnessing the flourishing state of the Society for about fifty years. A tribute of respect is also due to the memory of the two noble peers, Lord Folkstone and Lord Romney, who were successively, during their lives, presidents of the Society, and greatly promoted its interests. Their portraits, and that of Mr. Shipley, the founder, now decorate the great room of the Society.

From the institution in the year 1754, to the year 1787, it was the practice of the Society to distribute the rewards adjudged to the successful candidates as soon as possible after they were voted ; but, in the year last mentioned, it was determined that all the rewards of that session should be publicly distributed to the respective candidates on the last Tuesday in May, being near the close of the session ; at which time it is considered as a part of the duty of the secretary, to explain the nature and intent of the

SOCIETY OF ARTS 49

institution, and to describe the several articles for which rewards have been bestowed during that session ; whilst the president of the Society distributes the rewards in person. His Grace the Duke of Norfolk, the present noble president, usually performs this office with a dignity and manner which adds considerable value to the gift. The mode in which the whole ceremony is conducted, displays one of the most interesting scenes which the metropolis affords. In the classes of agriculture are frequently seen some of the first nobility of the kingdom, receiving rewards for the planting of those oaks which are to be the future bulwarks of the British empire. In the classes of chemistry and mechanics, men of abilities receiving premiums for numerous improvements in each. In the class of colonies and trade, the rewards of the Society are sent to distant climes, for introducing the products those countries afford. In manufactures, a display of that in- genuity which no other country can rival. In the class of polite arts will be observed the genius of youth advancing to future fame. Can words express the feelings of a mother whilst she observes her daughter receiving the reward due to her merit ? can the satisfaction of a father be delineated whilst he witnesses the bounties conferred on a promising son ? or can the mind of any spectator remain inanimate who regards the lovely diffidence of blooming beauty, tremblingly alive to the distinction, approaching to receive the honours which await her ? Such are the pleasing scenes disclosed on these occasions.

The name which this Society has thought proper to adopt is so expressive, that no comment upon it will be necessary. In a very few years after the foundation of it, the business became so ex- tensive as to render it proper to appoint committees to superintend

III. — E

50 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the different objects of the Society's attention, which committees are nine in number, and are arranged as follows :

1. Accounts — whose province it is to audit monthly the receipts and disbursements of the Society.

2. Correspondence and papers — who superintend the publication of the volume annually published by the Society, and other matters of literature.

3. Agriculture — who inspect the claims for planting, for horti- culture, agricultural implements, and farming.

4. Chemistry — who consider the various matters relative to this art, and the various branches of dying and mineralogy.

5. Polite and liberal arts — who examine the respective claims in drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, and other similar arts.

6. Manufactures — whose principal object is, to inspect, en- courage, and bring forward new materials for clothing, and to direct such articles as depend upon a combination of chemistry and mechanics.

7. Mechanics — extending to all the combinations and applica- tions of mechanical powers.

8. Colonies and trade — not only having in view navigation, and the encouragement of British commerce, but introducing improve- ments in all the colonies attached to the united empire, and connecting the interests of both.

9. Miscellaneous matters — regulating the election of the officers of the Society, the management of the house department, and the inspection of the models, machines, and paintings.

Every matter submitted to the Society is referred to the con- sideration of one or other of the committees above-mentioned ;

SOCIETY OF ARTS 51

and where any difficulty arises in judging of the merits of such matters, the attendance of professional men assists their decision.

The subjects for consideration are publicly stated in writing several days previous to their discussion, so that all the members may know what business is in agitation. No secret committees are allowed : every member is alike entitled to be present, and debate and vote, in the same manner as if he had been summoned to, or nominated on, that committee which he pleases to attend.

After the opinions of a committee have been formed, and recommended to the Society, they are twice read, at two successive weekly meetings, before the decision respecting any premium or bounty becomes valid, and every possible precaution is taken to prevent the funds of the Society from being improperly employed.

Every member has full liberty to deliver his sentiments openly upon the subjects under consideration ; and the regular routine in which the business of the Society is conducted, prevents any measure from being carried precipitately by claimants of high rank, or hinders modest merit from receiving a due reward. The humblest claimant meets a fair competition with the first nobleman of the land. This candid mode of conducting the business of the Society, and the impartiality with which the rewards are adjudged, have not only established the credit of the Society throughout the united empire, but have impressed so high a degree of respect for it amongst foreign nations, that the great Catherine, empress of Russia, pleased with an account of it, attempted to form upon its model a similar establishment at St. Petersburgh.

The Society consists of about fifteen hundred members, both ladies and gentlemen : the election of each takes place by ballot, on the recommendation of three members of the Society. Every

52 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

person so elected, upon payment of not less than two guineas annually, or of twenty guineas at one time, as a life subscriber, has a right to attend all the meetings and committees of the Society, to receive an annual volume of Transactions, to have the use of an extensive library, and the liberty of introducing his friends to see the models and paintings, besides the enjoyment of many other valuable privileges.

From the whole list of members are annually elected, by ballot, the president, sixteen vice-presidents, and eighteen chairmen of committees. It is the particular duty of these officers to preserve that dignity and order so essential to the examination of the subjects which are to be considered in their several departments ; but the power of any such officer, except in cases of interpreting the rules and orders of the Society, and preserving order in the debate, does not extend beyond that of a casting vote, when the numbers are equal upon any question which arises at the meeting where he presides.

The officers who are not members are, the secretary, who attends the meetings and committees of the Society, prepares the reports for their decision, receives the letters, and conducts the corre- spondence of the Society, and the publication of their annual volume ; the assistant secretary, who summonses the members who are desirous to be nominated on the committees, and tran- scribes such papers or letters as are necessary ; the housekeeper, who superintends the concerns of the house, the library, the in- spection of the paintings and models, and attends the strangers who visit them ; and the collector, who receives the subscriptions from the members, and pays the disbursements under the direction of the committee of accounts. It has been before observed, that

SOCIETY OF ARTS 53

no less an annual subscription than two guineas was admitted from any member, but it is usual for the vice-presidents to pay a higher subscription ; and frequent instances occur where vice-presidents, who have been life subscribers when members, have, on their election to that honour, handsomely complimented the Society with a regular annual subscription of five guineas.

The premiums offered by the Society are usually published in the month of June, and gratuitously dispersed to every part of Great Britain and Ireland ; every inhabitant of the united empire being allowed the benefit of claiming them. The premiums are usually arranged under the classes of agriculture, chemistry, polite arts, manufactures, mechanics, commerce, and colonies ; upon each of which classes we shall offer some observations.

The premiums usually proposed under the class of agriculture, extend to the raising of oaks, chestnut, elm, larch, ash, and other forest trees, and to the securing of them from damage; to the comparative culture of wheat, the raising of early beans, parsnips, buck wheat, and grass seeds ; the preservation of turnips, cabbages, carrots, parsnips, beets, and potatoes, as winter food for cattle ; the securing of hay and corn in wet weather ; the gaining of land from the sea ; the improvement of land lying waste ; the comparative advantages of different manures ; the raising of water for the irrigation of land ; the invention of paring ploughs ; machines for dibbling wheat, reaping, or mowing corn; thrashing machines, and all kinds of agricultural implements ; destroying grubs, worms, and flies ; protecting sheep, and curing their diseases ; the stall feeding of cattle ; the culture of hemp, and all other matters which tend to agricultural improvement. This Society may with pro- priety be deemed the source from whence all the provincial and

54 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

other agricultural institutions have had their rise ; the advantages resulting from this having been the reason for their establishment.

On the first formation of this Society, most of the manufactures of the kingdom, which depended upon chemical knowledge, were at a very low ebb in comparison with their present state ; and the first attention of the Society was directed to the improvement of the porcelain and earthen manufacture ; to the manufacturing of crucibles, particularly of those called black lead, or blue pots, which had heretofore only been procured from Hasner Zell, in Bohemia ; to the tanning of leather, and the invention of sub- stitutes for oak bark in this process ; to the preparation of Morocco leather of different colours ; to the improvement of varnishes ; the fabrication of sal ammoniac ; the preparation of enamel of various colours and kinds ; the tinning of large vessels with pure grain tin ; to the establishment of permanent dyes on woollen, silk, and cotton ; and to the preservation of the health of workmen employed in gilding metals, preparing white lead, and other noxious minerals : all of which have been greatly benefited by this Society.

The attentions of the Society in this class have been lately directed to the preservation of the seeds of vegetables imported or exported ; to prevent the dry rot in timber ; to the best method of preventing salted provisions from becoming rancid or rusty ; to the refining of fish oils ; to improve the manufactory of tallow candles ; to prepare candles from rosin, or similar substances ; to separate sugar in a solid form from treacle ; to find a substitute for tar ; to introduce, from foreign countries, substitutes for oak bark in tanning ; to make indelible ink ; to print topical red and green colours on cotton cloth ; to render muslin less combustible ; to make a white paint less noxious than white lead ; to make ultra-

SOCIETY OF ARTS 55

marine, and red and blue pigments, for painters ; to prevent the destructive effects of moths on woollen goods ; to the introduction of marble of all kinds, from British quarries, into general use ; to preparations of sulphuric and nitric acids ; to improvements in the smelting of iron, and preserving it from rust ; to refining of block tin ; to glazing earthen ware without lead ; to refining copper from the ore ; and to improvements in the natural history and

mineralogy of Great Britain and Ireland.

&j

Under the class of polite arts, it may be necessary to observe, that to promote in this kingdom a well-founded, true, and just taste for drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, and engraving, or such matters as are usually styled the polite and liberal arts, was an object which early attracted the notice of the Society. These branches, for many years, received great rewards, as will appear from the large sums mentioned in the Society's books, as having been expended in this class. Many of the artists who now make conspicuous figures in this country, were first stimulated to those exertions by the rewards and honours which in their younger days they received in this Society ; among which may be mentioned, Nollekens, Bacon, and many others.

It is an established fact, that public exhibitions of the works of artists are the best means of introducing them to the world, and leading them to emolument and fame. To this Society is most certainly due the introduction of the merits of the ingenious, by allowing them to make public exhibitions of their works in the apartments of the Society ; a proceeding which never took place in this country till the year 1760, when a letter was addressed to the Society, signed by Mr. Francis Hayman, at that time chairman of a committee of artists, whose meetings were held

56 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

in St. Martin's-lane, desiring the Society to grant the use of their great room for the purpose of exhibiting paintings and other works of art. This request being gratuitously complied with, clearly establishes the right of the Society to the title of being the first promoters of public exhibitions in this country. After such exhibitions had been so continued for several years, the various branches of the polite arts had arrived at such an improved state, as to obtain them the favour and patronage of his majesty ; and the Royal Academy was then instituted, and their subsequent annual exhibitions made at Somerset-place.

The arts and artists having thus gained a high share of pro- tection and support, many of the premiums formerly given in this line by the Society have been discontinued ; and the rewards now annually offered are principally intended to encourage such young artists as may hereafter make the arts their profession, or stimulate other young persons in the higher sphere of life, who may at a future period become patrons of the arts, after having acquired sufficient knowledge, and given such proofs of their taste and abilities as to make them competent judges of the merit of artists.

Among the valuable paintings which do honour to this country, perhaps none are more deserving of attention than those which decorate and dignify the great room of the Society, by the late James Barry, Esq. His ardent mind prompted him voluntarily to undertake the rescue of the British nation from reflections thrown out by foreigners, of our want of genius for the superior works of art. The idea and execution do great honour to his genius. His purpose was not only to please the eye, but to improve the heart. The progress of the human mind is here traced from its early dawn of thought, through the varied scenes

SOCIETY OF ARTS 57

of rural happiness, the triumphs of heroism, the extent and luxuries of commerce, the pleasures of rewarding merit personi- fied in the members of the Society, and the idea is extended to the realms of everlasting glory, and the association of men of abilities in a future permanent state of happiness. He has con- trasted this scene with the dreadful punishments which await the wicked, and has drawn the following inference from the whole : That the attainment of mans true rank in the creation, and his present and future happiness, individual as well as public, depend on the cultivation and proper direction of the human faculties*

* This eminent artist was very eccentric in his manners and character, which pre- vented him from accumulating riches, or from completing various historical paintings, in which Boydell, Macklin, and others wished to employ him. On one day he would appear pleasant, animated, interesting in conversation, and replete with judicious observations on men and things ; the next day close, suspicious, and desirous of shun- ning the world. He kept no servant whatever in his house, and it was a great favour for even his friends to get admittance there. At one time he was so indisposed, that he remained for several days helpless and without assistance, and with difficulty collected strength to reach a friend's house and procure necessaries. At the latter part of his life, many of his friends were desirous to make him comfortable, and a subscription of one thousand pounds was raised for him from them, in order to purchase him an annuity. Sir Robert Peel, Bart, handsomely offered to allow more for Mr. Barry's life for that sum than could be obtained in the public offices, and an engagement was made with him for the purpose ; but before the term of one year had expired, Mr. Barry died, on the 26th February, 1805, in the sixty-fifth year of his age, without receiving any emolument from the good intentions of his friends. It was immediately and unanimously ordered, by a vote of the Society, " That permission should be given to the persons conducting the "funeral of the late Mr. Barry, to place his body in the great room of the Society the " night previous to his interment, as the last tribute in the power of the Society to offer " to the remains of the illustrious artist, to whose labours it is indebted for the series of " classical paintings which adorn its walls." In consequence of this order the corpse was placed, in the evening of the 7th of March, in the great room, with appropriate solemnity ; and the following morning conveyed to St. Paul's cathedral, attended by several of the vice-presidents and many other members of the Society, and there deposited, between

58 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

To the great honour of this Society, it should be observed, that these excellent paintings, and an infinite variety of models and machines, which have been rewarded by the Society, are gratuitously exhibited by the housekeeper every day from eleven till two (Sundays and Wednesdays excepted), to all persons who produce an order for the purpose from any member of the Society, addressed to her. These paintings will thus remain a monument to perpetuate Mr. Barry's memory, honourable to himself and valuable to the Society.

In a country like Great Britain, whose chief dependance is on commerce, a very principal object of consideration must be the improvement of its manufactures ; and this has always been apparent in the proceedings of this Society, as well as by their rewards, which have a tendency to promote the trade and manufactures, and thereby to increase the riches and glory of the kingdom. Many of their premiums have been given for improve- ments in particular manufactures, such as bleaching linen, making various kinds of carpets, machinery for the woollen, cotton, and linen manufactures ; milled caps ; paper of different kinds, as marbled paper, embossed paper, and paper for taking impressions from copper-plates ; simplifying and improving spinning-wheels, looms, and stocking-frames, and many other articles. It may be proper to remark, that two very important branches owe their success to hints thrown out, and rewards given, by this Society :

the remains of Sir Christopher Wren and Sir Joshua Reynolds.— Sir Robert Peel paid a compliment to Mr. Barry's memory, by returning two hundred pounds to his executors, to be applied for funeral expences, or such other purposes as they might think proper ; and we understand it is in contemplation to erect a marble bust over his remains. — For a particular description of the paintings, the reader is referred to a note at the conclusion of this article.

SOCIETY OF ARTS 59

ist, a mode of spinning many threads at one time by one person, a matter which, when first proposed, was treated by many persons as visionary and impossible, and which has since been brought to so great a degree of perfection, that a single pound of cotton has been thus spun so fine, as togextend in length one hundred miles ; 2dly, the weaving in imitation of Marseilles quilting, which was entirely introduced by rewards held out by this Society. Many works of ingenuity, industry, and art, have met with encouragement at an early period from hence ; as in the case of Miss Linwood, whose works are at present so universally admired ; and in specimens of lace and needle-work, which have received bounties from the Society.

The premiums lately offered by the Society, under their class of manufactures, are, for separating the fibres of many plants hitherto supposed of little value, and making coarse cloth there- from, like that from hemp ; for the manufacture of paper from articles heretofore regarded as useless ; for a better taste in designs for printed calicoes, and many other articles.

An object lately rewarded by the Society should not pass unnoticed, at a time when the war with Russia has prevented our importation of hemp from thence, and the exportation of cloths manufactured from our coarsest wool. It is the application made by Mr. George Whitworth, of Coxwold, near Castor, in Lincoln- shire, of that coarse wool, which lay useless upon the hands of the farmers, into the manufacture of corn-sacks, hammocks for sailors, sacking bottoms, ropes, and various other articles, which has superseded the use of hemp in many cases, allowed a greater supply of hemp for naval purposes, and will probably save a considerable sum of money to this country.

60 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

From a full conviction, that by improving and perfecting those machines which would shorten labour, and expedite business, the commercial interest of Great Britain would be most essentially promoted, the Society have constantly and invariably turned their attention to the encouragement of all such mechanical contrivances as were most likely to conduce to those ends ; and the rewards which they have given under their class of rewards, are innumer- able, comprehending carriages of various kinds, engines for cutting, grinding, and polishing glass and marble, steam-engines, jacks for house and ship carpenters and masons, various kinds of wind-mills, saw-mills, and tide-mills, pumps, cranes, improvements in building ships and boats, mangles, life-boats, ice-boats, drags for raising the bodies of persons who have sunk under water, gun- harpoons, county telegraphs, curious clocks and watches, all kinds of agricultural implements, and an infinite variety of other articles, which we shall not mention, as the means for strangers to get access to view them in the repositories of the Society where they are preserved, is so easy, and as engravings and descriptions are published of most of those which have been rewarded since the year 1783, in twenty-six octavo volumes of the Society's Transactions, and others previous to that date in two folio volumes, with numerous plates.

No patent invention is allowed a place in the Society's repository. They permit workmen to make machines from the models they have rewarded ; and it is one of the express conditions on which their premiums and bounties are bestowed, that the public in general shall have free leave and full liberty to make and use all the articles which the Society have rewarded. From such noble and generous conduct, great advantages have

SOCIETY OF ARTS 61

arisen, as well to ingenious workmen, as to the curious and scientific observers of every denomination.

The Society have paid very particular attention to the en- couragement of naval improvements of every denomination, sensible of the great importance it is to the security, the interest, and the glory of this country. We shall notice two of those rewarded during the last session of the Society, amongst others in the naval line ; one of which, invented by Captain Bolton, R.N. is to enable a ship which has lost its main-mast by accident or engagement, to erect a jury-mast from the spare materials which are on board all ships properly found, on such a plan as to enable her to carry as great a press of sail as with a regular mast, and thus enable her to pursue her regular voyage without danger, or being obliged to go into port.

The other, an invention of Lieutenant James Spratt, R.N. which, simply and by means of a common white handkerchief held in different angles and positions, enables a conversation to be maintained by persons on land, or on board ships, at considerable distances from each other. Lieutenant Spratt is the gallant young officer who, in the glorious action of Trafalgar, was on board the ship Defiance at the time she was engaged with a French So-gun ship, called L'Aigle, within pistol-shot, when, eager to board her, he plunged into the sea, swam to the enemy's stern, and entered the gun-room port alone, made his way courageously through the different decks, and at length mounting the enemy's poop, and placing his hat on the point of his cutlass, he hailed his men to join him. In attempting to haul down the French colours, he was attacked by several Frenchmen, whom he repulsed with success. He was soon followed by several of our

62 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

tars, and in the act of saving the life of a French officer, who cried out for mercy, a musket was levelled at his own breast, which he fortunately struck downwards, but his leg was fractured by the shot. He afterwards fought two of the enemy on his knees, who were quickly dispatched by his companions, and the French ship taken. This brave young man has recovered the use of his leg, and his station is now at the signal-house near Teignmouth, in Devonshire, anxiously wishing for a more active employment on the ocean, against the enemies of his country.

The premiums at present offered by the Society under the class of mechanics, are directed to prevent gunpowder-mills from ex- plosion, to improve mathematical instruments, family mills for grinding corn, machines for raising coals from mines and for raising water from wells, cranes for unloading goods, methods of preventing horses from falling with carriages, improved methods of conveying water in pipes, taking whales by the gun-harpoon, heating and ventilating rooms, extinguishing fires, working mines, improving turnpike and other roads, and many other articles.

Under the class of colonies and trade, the Society have laid it down as a rule for their conduct, that it is sound policy in every government, to procure within its own dominions every article necessary for its subsistence, its protection, and its strength, as far as human reason can suggest : and in conformity to this maxim the Society have acted, and by their endeavours greatly contri- buted to the benefit of their country. If habit has rendered it necessary that tea or coffee should be our daily beverage, if wine is wanted to exhilarate our spirits, if silk or cotton is required for our habiliments, and if hemp is necessary for the equipment of our navy, it is the object of a Society formed for the promotion of

SOCIETY OF ARTS 63

arts and commerce, to consider first, whether Great Britain and Ireland can furnish any, or what part, of these articles advan- tageously ; and next, to procure from the colonies of the united empire such as this country cannot produce. To provide hemp for the use of that navy which renders this united empire so respectable to our friends, and so formidable to our enemies, is an object of primary consequence, which the Society foresaw at an early period, and the necessity there was to render us independent of Russia for this article. With this view the Society have, for several years, encouraged the growth of hemp in Canada, by the premiums they have offered there ; and, at the same time, en- deavoured to procure from the East and West India colonies, accounts of such articles produced there as would be useful substi- tutes for it. In all these points they have materially succeeded, and have the pleasing prospect of preserving our specie in our own dominions, and rendering ineffectual the menaces of our enemies.

The herring fishery on the coasts of Scotland has been the source of immense wealth to our Dutch neighbours. This fishery has been emphatically termed by them in their placart, the principal mine and chief support of those countries; and they have supplied almost every foreign market with the fish caught on our coasts. To rouse the inactivity of our countrymen, and to make them competitors with the Dutch in this lucrative branch of com- merce, this Society has been induced to encourage the British herring fishery, by offering premiums for curing white herrings equal to the Dutch ; and have had the satisfaction to find our countrymen improving in this art every year, and that British herrings are already cured superior to the Swedish, and nearly

64 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

equal to the Dutch. The correspondence maintained by the Society in every part of the world with men of abilities, is a continual source of useful knowledge ; and new products, animal, vegetable, and mineral, are constantly sent for their inspection, as well as opinion of their utility and application : and during the administration of the late Mr. Pitt, the secretary of the Society was known to be frequently consulted by him, on points of very material consequence to the commercial interests of the united empire. Besides a continuance of their endeavours for promoting the objects above-mentioned, their present premiums in this class extend to the preparation and improvement of fish oils, the growth of kali for barilla, the production of cochineal, annotta, and that species of cotton wool from which nankeens are manufactured of the natural colour of the cotton, the growth of nutmegs and foreign spices, and the destruction of such noxious insects as injure the crops in warm climates.

The limits of our publication will not permit us to enter into a longer detail of particulars ; we shall only therefore make this general observation, that to every improvement or invention by which the happiness of mankind can be promoted, the views of the Society are extended, and its rewards reach the remotest climes.

The meetings of the Society are held every Wednesday, at seven o'clock in the evening from the fourth Wednesday in October, to the first Wednesday in June inclusive. The several committees meet on other evenings or mornings during the sessions. Every member has the privilege of recommending two persons as auditors at the meetings of the Society, besides the use of a valuable library, annually increasing by purchases and from donations.

SOCIETY OF ARTS 65

The following is a list of the present officers :

PRESIDENT. Charles, Duke of Norfolk, F.R. and A.S.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

John, Duke of Bedford. Sir William Dolben, Bart. LL.D.

Wm. Henry, Duke of Portland, F.R. and Sir Robert Peel, Bart. M.P.

A.S. Sir Watkin Lewes, Knt.

Hugh, Duke of Northumberland, F.R. Thomas Pitt, Esq. F.A.S.

and A.S. Caleb Whitefoord, Esq. F.R. and A.S.

George, Earl of Dartmouth, K.G. and Richard Clark, Esq. chamberlain.

F.R.S. Nathaniel Conant, Esq.

Jacob, Earl of Radnor, F.R. and A.S. Richard Powell, M.D.

Charles, Earl of Romney, F.R.S. John Christian Curwen, M.P. Hon. Robert Clifford, F.R. and A.S.

Secretary, Charles Taylor, M.D. Housekeeper, Miss A. B. Cockings.

Assistant Secretary, Mr. Thos. Woodfall. Collector, Mr. Robert Elwin.

The collector, Mr. Elwin, was elected on the 5th of April, 1808, in the place of Mr. Stephen Theodore Borman, deceased.

The housekeeper, Miss Cockings, was appointed, on the death of her father, Mr. George Cockings, in the year 1802, who for many years had discharged the office of register to the Society with honesty, diligence, and attention.

The assistant secretary, Mr. Woodfall, is the son of the late Mr. Woodfall, well remembered for his mental powers and accuracy in recording parliamentary debates. He was elected on March 4, 1807, in place of Mr. Thomas Taylor, the translator of Plato and Aristotle, who resigned in consequence of a paralytic affection of his right hand.

The secretary, Ur. C. Taylor, is a native of Manchester, and

III. — F

66 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

was intended for the church ; but an early attachment to chemical studies superseded with him all other objects, induced him to visit various parts of Europe, and led him to a personal acquaintance with many of the most eminent chemists and philosophers both in Great Britain and on the Continent. He was elected on Feb. 5, 1800, in the place of Mr. Samuel More, who had for many years honourably filled the situation, and who was so respected by his Grace the Duke of Norfolk, the president, that, on the first anniversary dinner of the Society following his death, his grace rose up, and proposed to the members to drink a silent glass to the memory of the late Mr. More, who had so long and ably filled a situation difficult to execute from the various objects it embraced, and on exertions in which the success of the Society so much depended ; expressing his fears that no person could maintain so important an office with equal propriety and judgment. We have the satisfaction, however, to add, that, on the last anniversary of the Society, his grace reverted to what he had said on the occasion above-mentioned, and, in a very handsome manner, acknowledged that he had been mistaken in that supposition. He paid very high compliments to the abilities of Dr. C. Taylor, the present secretary, and declared the Society to be in a more flourishing state than he had ever known it since he had the honour to be its president.

The print which accompanies this account of the Society of Arts, &c. represents its great room, with the annual ceremony of distributing the premiums, and the president in the act of pre- senting a successful candidate with the merited reward.

It would be deviating from the character of our undertaking, if we were to pass by such a distinguished effort of British art

SOCIETY OF ARTS 67

as has been displayed by Mr. Barry in those paintings which adorn and dignify the great room of the Society of Arts, &c. whose history is a proud subject of this work, without adding as detailed an account of them as the limit of our publication will allow.

These pictures may be considered as a fine collection and a gallery of themselves, and are intended to illustrate the progress of society, from the savage condition of man to a final state of retribution.

The first in order is the picture of Orpheus, who is philosophi- cally represented, not as realizing a poetical fable, but as uniting in the same character the legislator, the divine, and the philosopher, as well as the poet and musician ; and, instead of fabulously employing his music to influence the brute creation and inanimate nature, he is represented as exerting the moral and social influence on intellectual man in an uncultivated state. The hearers of Orpheus are armed with clubs, clothed with skins, and accompanied with those circumstances which denote the want of mental culture, and the preparation to receive it. By the action of Orpheus, the song appears to be the principal, and the lyre only an accessory, as it should ever be where utility and instruction are intended. As he is said to have taught the use of letters, the theogony or generation of the gods, and the worship due to them, there is placed near him a mythological scroll, a fire kindled, a lamb bound, and other preparations for sacrifice. The whole of this picture is intended to demonstrate the effect of those benefits which result to mankind from religion, philosophy, and social virtue.

The second picture is A Grecian Harvest Home. In the fore-

68 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

ground are young men and women dancing round a double ter- minal figure of Sylvanus and Pan, with all the attributes of the season which it represents. The distant view contains a pleasing delineation of rural life, consisting of persons employed in binding corn, tending bees, and other rural occupations, with groupes that denote domestic happiness, and children as the fruits of it. These are blended with manly, athletic exercises ; while Ceres, Bacchus, and Pan are looking down on the innocent festivity of their happy votaries.

The third picture represents The Victors at Olympia. The artist has taken that point of time when the victors in the several games are passing in procession before the judges, in order to be crowned with olive in the presence of all the Grecians. At the extremity of the picture to the right, the judges, which are three in number, are seated on a throne decorated with medallions of Solon, Lycurgus, and other legislators, together with trophies of the victories of Salamis, Marathon, and Thermopylae. As the Greek chronology was regulated by those games, one of the judges, with his hand stretched out, is declaring the Olympiad, and the name, family, and country of the conqueror ; while, at the foot of the throne, and beside a table on which the olive chaplets and palm-branches are placed, a scribe is recording the declaration in a register of the Olympiads. Near him is the figure of a foot- racer, who ran armed with an helmet, a spear, and a shield. Then follows a group of two young athletic figures, the one representing a pancratiast or boxer, the other a victor at the cestus, bearing on their shoulders their aged father. The old man is Diagoras of Rhodes, who, having in his youth been celebrated for his victories in the games, is represented as enjoying the fruit of the virtuous

SOCIETY OF ARTS 69

education which he had given his sons, who are represented as carrying him in triumph round the Stadium, amidst the acclama- tions of the Grecian people. The spectators consist of those celebrated characters of Greece who may be supposed to have been present on the occasion. Among others, appear Socrates, Anaxagoras, Euripides, and Pericles : to the latter the painter has given the likeness of the late Earl of Chatham. In the front of the picture appears a horse-racer, who is followed by a chariot drawn by four horses, in which is seated Hiero of Syracuse. The basso-relievo which decorates it, represents the contest between Minerva and Neptune for the naming and patronage of Athens ; and is accompanied by a chorus of youths, preceded by Pindar, singing to his lyre. Behind the Stadium, at a distance, is a view of the Grecian temple of Jupiter Olympus in the Altis, the town of Elis, and the river Alpheus. The procession which is approach- ing the temple with a sacrifice, leads the mind to contemplate the numberless blessings which society derives from the exercise of religious worship.

The Triumph of the Thames is the subject of the fourth picture. The artist has here adopted the ancient practice of personifying rivers, and has accordingly given to father Thames a venerable, majestic, and gracious aspect, and sitting in a triumphal car on the waters : he steers himself with one hand, and holds in the other the mariner's compass, from the use of which modern navigation has arrived at a certainty, importance, and magnitude, unknown to the ancient world, and by which the productions of the four quarters of the globe are poured into the bosom of the Thames. This idea is very happily expressed by Sir John Denham, in his well-known eulogium of this river :

70 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Nor are his blessings to his banks confined, But free and common as the sea or wind : When he, to boast or to disperse his stores, Full of the tribute of his grateful shores, Visits the world, and, in his flying towers, Brings home to us, and makes both Indies ours ; Finds wealth where 'tis, bestows it where it wants ; Cities in deserts, woods in cities plants : So that to us, no thing, no place is strange, While his fair bosom is the world's exchange.

The car is borne along by several of our great navigators, in the characters of Tritons : above, is Mercury, as representing Commerce ; and, attending upon the car, are Nereids, bearing various articles of British manufactory. With a view to exhilarate the scene, he has added music, but in a way which has thrown a ridicule upon the picture that cannot be withstood : he has placed his friend, Dr. Burney, the musical professor, in a court-dress, playing upon an harpsichord in the middle of the water, and with sea-nymphs swimming around him ; a whim equally absurd and incomprehensible, which no raillery or good counsel could induce him to dismiss from the canvass. In the distance, is a view of the chalky cliffs of the English coast, with ships sailing, as charac- teristic of that commerce which it is the object of this painting to illustrate. In the part of the picture next the chimney, there is a naval pillar, mausoleum, observatory, and light-house, all compre- hended in the same structure, and which the Tritons appear to have erected in honour of the first naval power.

The fifth picture displays The Distribution of Premiums in the Society of Arts, in which are given the portraits of distinguished persons who were instrumental in forming this Society, and

SOCIETY OF ARTS 71

advancing it to its present state of extensive utility. Many noble- men of the first rank, and gentlemen of acknowledged learning and taste, who have been its protectors, supporters, and active members, together with ladies whose names were in the list of its members, are formed into groupes, to aid the general effect of the interesting scene, and to heighten the dignity of the subject. Among them are, his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, the late Lord Romney, then president of the Society, Mr. More, the late secretary, the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Radnor, Hurd Bishop of Worcester, Soame Jennings, Edmund Burke, Doctor Hunter, Sir George Saville, Doctor Johnson, the Duchesses of Rutland and Devonshire, and Mrs. Montague ; who, by their various positions, are associated with the subject and design of the pictures. It must also be particularly mentioned, that Mr. William Shipley is represented with the instrument of the institution in his hand, as it was the public spirit of that worthy man which gave rise to this Society : he may indeed, with great truth, be styled the father of it.

The sixth of this series of paintings represents Elysium, or the State of final Retribution. In this concluding picture, which occupies the whole side of the room, and is of the same length with that of the Victors at Olympia, viz. forty-two feet each, it seems to have been the object of the painter to bring together in Elysium, those great and good men, of all ages and nations, who have been the cultivators and benefactors of mankind ; and to form, as it were, a beatification of those useful qualities which have been represented in the progress of this unexampled work. This he seems to have effected by classing, in characteristic groupes, the

72 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

chief of those distinguished persons who have dedicated their time and their talents to the service of mankind, according to their in- tellectual denominations, and with the most judicious appropria- tions of individual character. The divines, the philosophers, the legislators, the poets, the painters, and the patrons of science, are correctly classified. A corner of the picture is also given to Tartarus, where the vices and their doom are admirably allegor- ised. The mysterious parts of the picture are most happily con- ceived and sublimely represented. Near the top of it, on the side towards that of the Society distributing its Rewards, are indis- tinctly seen, as immersed and lost in the great blaze of light, cherubims veiled with their wings, in the act of adoration and offering incense to that invisible and incomprehensible power which is above them, and out of the picture, and from whence the light and glory proceed which are diffused over the whole piece. In the uppermost extremity of another part of the canvass, the painter has happily glanced at what is called by astronomers the system of systems, where the fixed stars, considered as so many suns, each with its several planets, are revolving round the great cause of all things ; and, representing every thing as effected by in- telligence, has shewn each system carried along in its revolution by an angel. Though only a small portion of this circle can be seen, enough is, nevertheless, displayed to manifest the grandeur of the idea. Thus Mr. Barry concluded a series of pictures, which, considered as a whole, bear away the palm from all others in the British school of painting.

73

SOCIETY OF AGBICULTUBE

THIS establishment, which has already produced, is pro- ducing, and promises hereafter to produce, so many important advantages to the united empire, is indebted for its origin to the patriotic zeal, the indefatigable perseverance, and appropriate knowledge, as well as personal character, of Sir John Sinclair.

On the 1 5th of May, 1793, the honourable baronet brought forward a motion in the House of Commons, to address the crown, recommending such an institution. He was supported on the occasion by the influence and talents of Mr. Pitt, then chancellor of the Exchequer ; and, after an adjourned debate on the i ;th of the same month, the motion was carried. It was expressed in the following terms :

" That an humble address be presented to his Majesty, entreat- " ing that his Majesty would be graciously pleased to take into "his royal consideration, the advantages which might be derived " by the public from the establishment of a Board of Agriculture "and internal Improvement.

" Humbly representing to his Majesty, that though in some "particular districts improved methods of cultivating the soil are "practised, yet that, in the greatest part of these kingdoms, the "principles of agriculture are not yet sufficiently understood, nor

74 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

"are the implements of husbandry, or the stock of the farmer, "brought to that perfection of which they are capable.

" That his faithful Commons are persuaded, if such an institu- tion were to take place, that such enquiries might be made into " the internal state of the country, and a spirit of improvement "so effectually encouraged, as must naturally tend to produce "many important national benefits, the attainment of which his " Majesty has ever shewn a most gracious disposition to promote ; "and, in particular, that such a measure might be the means of "uniting a judicious system of husbandry, to the advantages of "domestic manufacturing industry, and the benefits of foreign " commerce ; and consequently of establishing, on the surest and "best foundations, the prosperity of his kingdoms.

"And, if his Majesty shall be pleased to direct the institution " of such a Board for a limited time, to assure his Majesty, that " his faithful Commons will cheerfully defray any expence attend- " ing the same, to the amount of a sum not exceeding three "thousand pounds."

In consequence of this motion, on the 23d of August following, this institution was established by charter from the crown, under the name of " The Board or Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture and internal Improvement ; " in which his Majesty was pleased to declare himself the patron, to appoint Sir John Sinclair, Baronet, to be the first president, and to nominate the following persons to be the first members of it :

PATRON. HIS MAJESTY.

PRESIDENT. SIR JOHN SINCLAIR, BART.

SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURE

75

OFFICIAL MEMBERS.

The Archbishop of Canterbury. The Lord Chancellor. The Archbishop of York. The Lord President of the Council. The Lord Privy Seal. The First Lord of the Treasury. The First Lord of the Admiralty. The Bishop of London. The Bishop of Durham. The Secretary of State for the Foreign Department.

The Secretary of State for the Home

Department.

The Master General of the Ordnance. The Speaker of the House of Commons. The President of the Royal Society. The Surveyor General of Woods and

Forests. The Surveyor General of the Crown

Lands.

Duke of Grafton. Duke of Bedford. Duke of Buccleugh. Marquis of Bath. Earl of Winchelsea. Earl of Hopetoun. Earl Fitzwilliam. Earl of Egremont. Earl of Lonsdale. Earl of Moira. Earl of Carysfort. Bishop of Llandaff. Lord Hawke. Lord Clive. Lord Sheffield.

ORDINARY MEMBERS.

Right Hon. W. Windham. Hon. Charles Marsham. Sir Charles Morgan, Bart. Wm. Pulteney, Esq. Thos. Wm. Coke, Esq. Thomas Powys, Esq. Henry Duncombe, Esq. Edw. Loveden Loveden, Esq. J. Southey Somerville, Esq. Robert Barclay, Esq.

Robert Smith, Esq. George Sumner, Esq. John Conyers, Esq. Christopher Willoughby, Esq. William Geary, Esq.

Sir John Call, Bart. Treasurer. Arthur Young, Esq. Secretary.

We cannot pass by the name of the latter gentleman without representing it as a most fortunate circumstance for the Board, that it found a person so peculiarly qualified to fill the important situation to which he was nominated. Mr. Young, by his pro-

76 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

vincial tours, some of which were made and published forty years ago, appears, in no small degree, to have awakened the general attention of the higher orders of the public to agricultural im- provements; which he has still continued to promote by his scientific publications in the form of agricultural annals. Indeed, through a long and useful life, he has been continually instructing his countrymen on the important and interesting subject of his favourite pursuit.

On the 4th of September in the same year, 1793, the first Board was assembled ; when Sir John Sinclair pronounced an address, in which the measures recommended to the new in- stitution, and since pursued, are 'very ably delineated. He also stated, that the Board was already regarded by foreign nations as promising to become the general magazine of knowledge on agricultural subjects ; and expressed his hopes, that when the superior fund of solid ability and useful information, and great extent of actual and efficient capital, in these kingdoms, were directed to increase internal wealth and cultivation, supported as they will ever be by the great mass of public spirit in the nation at large, this island would become the garden of Europe. The regular sittings, however, did not commence till the 22d of January in the following year.

To concentrate the knowledge, abilities, and experience of those who pursue agriculture, whether as a profession or an amusement, in every part of the kingdom, in one point ; from thence to diverge wherever a want or a desire of improvement should attract them, was a leading object of this institution ; by which it might become a kind of office of intelligence for the use of individuals, who may be desirous of information on any subject

SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURE 77

of rural economy. As a board of reference, also, to which government, or either house of Parliament, may have recourse for authenticated facts or statements on questions resulting from the consideration of subjects connected with public economy, great advantages may be derived from it : and in both these cases the most sanguine expectations appear to have been proportion- ably gratified, so that the principles on which it has been established are fully justified.

In such a work as this, wherein nothing more is professed than to give a correct sketch of the subjects which we offer to the attention of the public, we must content ourselves with delineat- ing the outlines and prominent effects of any establishment which we have undertaken to consider, and leave the detail to more enlarged and elaborate descriptions. The general advantages which have already resulted from the Board of Agriculture, is all we shall pretend to state, and as much as can be reasonably expected from us.

Immediately after the establishment of this institution, the kingdom was afflicted by a very severe scarcity, to which the Board gave its immediate attention ; nor did it hesitate a moment to direct its enquiries to the interesting question of substitutes for wheat in the manufacture of bread. Fourscore kinds of bread were accordingly exhibited to the public, and the experiments made in producing them were registered and printed, and remain for future application.

The next object which occupied the attention of the Board, and to which it applied its utmost energies, was the cultivation of the immense wastes of this kingdom, by an Act of General Inclosure. This tract of almost desert land amounts to twenty-

78 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

two millions of acres. — Nor can it be forgotten by those who give their attention to the proceedings of Parliament, with what unremitted diligence Sir John Sinclair endeavoured to fulfil the anxious wishes of the Board respecting this important object. But his efforts were of no avail ; and it is a melancholy reflection, that private interests should have worked up such powerful obstacles to a measure which promised immense and certain advantages to the country. In a subsequent session, however, this bill was revived on a reduced plan, when it passed the House of Commons ; but was thrown out by the Lords, on the strange, unaccountable, and fallacious notion, that it trenched on the interests of the church. But these endeavours, unsuccessful as they were with respect to their principal object, were not unpro- ductive of considerable benefits : for there arose out of them certain standing resolutions, which passed in a succeeding session, to lessen the difficulties and expences of private acts, by which large sums have been saved to persons applying for inclosures ; the very great increase of which since the establishment of the Society of Agriculture, may be attributed to the spirit of improve- ment which it excited : nor are the legislative facilities less indebted to its active exertions.

Its next effort was crowned with a most efficacious success. It had directed its enquiries to the deficiency of the law respecting weights and measures, by which the poor, particularly in villages, were most grievously defrauded. It accordingly requested one of its members to bring a bill into Parliament to remedy this op- pressive evil : and an act consequently passed, which has brought all the weights and measures of the kingdom under the summary jurisdiction of the magistrate.

SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURE 79

The act, also, to remove a discouraging, and almost pro- hibiting, duty on the import of oil-cakes from America, an article which fattens cattle and fertilizes the earth, had its origin in the zealous endeavours of this Board. It recommended, likewise, the exemption of draining tiles from excise, a tax which operated as a prohibition in this branch of a very leading improvement of land ; and the legislature adopted the recommendation.

In consequence of the uncommon success of Mr. Elkington's practice in draining, on principles known only to himself, the Board recommended him to the munificence of Parliament, who accordingly voted one thousand pounds, as a reward for his dis- covery. But as this person, with all his practical ingenuity, was so astonishingly confused and obscure in explaining his ideas, that it was really apprehended his most useful improvement might die with him ; the Board took all the necessary precautions to prevent the possibility of so great a loss to the public ; and the whole process has been preserved in a treatise composed and pub- lished on this very important subject.

If this Society had performed no other service to the country, than has been effected by its attention to the cottage management of landed estates, it would have amply merited the whole of that pecuniary aid which Parliament has voted for its support. It consists in annexing lands to cottages ; a system which has been productive of the most acknowledged blessings. On its various advantages we have not the opportunity to dilate ; but we shall mention as a circumstance of great public interest and private satisfaction, and many others might be enumerated, that, by its adoption, a gentleman in Gloucestershire reduced the poor's rates

8o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

of his parish from two hundred to twelve pounds a year, to the general gratification of the poor themselves.

Nor can the exertions of the Board during the scarcity of the year 1800, though not attended with the expected or merited success, be considered without due acknowledgments to the patriotic and humane spirit which suggested them. After much enquiry and consideration on the subject, no remedy occurred to the Board, so certain, safe, and economical for supplying the expected deficiency, as the importation of a sufficient quantity of rice from India ; and had the plan proposed by the Board been duly adopted by government and the East India company, it appears from the account of the president for that year, that not only a very great relief would have been afforded and felt ; but, from a saving in bounties on corn imported, and in the cost and charges of rice which arrived from India when it was no longer wanted, two millions and a half would have been saved to the public.

On the first establishment of this institution, its attention was immediately directed to the agricultural state of the country ; a knowledge of which would form the most solid basis of future improvement. This undertaking, which involves the survey of fourscore provinces, including every spot from the Land's- End to the Orkneys, when compared with the means allowed for its support, must fill the mind of every man who contemplates it, with astonishment and admiration. These statistical histories of the counties, which are printed separately, surpass any thing hitherto suggested for accumulating that information, on the knowledge of which the general happiness of the human species must depend. The account of these publications is of a most

SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURE 81

interesting nature, and displays such a prominent feature of the Society which is under our consideration, that we shall give it in the words of Mr. Arthur Young, to whom it is so much indebted, in his printed lecture, which he read to the institution on the 26th of May in the present year.

" These works detail many particulars relating to the extent, soil, and climate of each county ; the rivers, navigations, roads, and whatever contributes to internal communication ; the tenures by which landed property is possessed and occupied, including the effect of long and short leases : they describe those circumstances which demand attention in the buildings necessary to the occupa- tion of land ; they note the payments to which it is subjected, in rent, tythe, and parochial taxes : they give the size of farms, and the consequences of both large and small occupations ; they present a detail of inclosures, whether by private exertion or by public authority; and the consequences which have flowed from them : they describe the implements of husbandry, and mark such as merit removal from a confined district to a more general appli- cation : they enter into all the minutiae of the cultivation of arable land, and are equally attentive to the pasturage and meadows of the kingdom : they give the particulars of woods and plantations : they enter largely into the detail of the waste lands of the king- dom, their soil, value, and climate ; the improvements which have been made upon them, and others of which they are susceptible : they report upon the means used for the melioration of all the various soils, whether by draining, irrigation, paring and burning, manuring or embanking : they describe the live stock of the kingdom, and the great improvements which have been made in that important department : they note the price and various

III. — G

82 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

other circumstances respecting rural labour, the state of the poor, and the several efforts which have been made for amelio- rating their condition ; and they give such particulars relating to manufactures and commerce, as connect them with rural economy."

From this detail, which does not, however, include the whole of the enquiries directed by the Board, it must be sufficiently obvious, that these works will necessarily lay such a foundation for scientific knowledge, in every branch of agriculture, as cannot fail of diffusing a spirit of improvement through every part of the realm. This is their direct tendency ; and if they should fail of effecting that object, it is not so much the fault of the works themselves, as of the neglect of those who do not sufficiently examine them. It may be asserted with equal safety, that no enquirer into those facts on which the science of political economy ought to be founded, can neglect to consult these works without manifesting a proportionate degree of ignorance ; for they may be as useful to a member of the legislature, as they ought to be to a practical farmer. What a depot of information, therefore, relative to the internal improvement of the country this Society must have formed ! It is, indeed, observed by Doctor James Anderson, a distinguished writer on agricultural and rural affairs, — that, in the course of little more than one year, the Board of Agriculture had printed a body of authentic facts respecting the agricultural and internal economy of this kingdom, greater than was ever obtained in any other nation since the beginning of time. And Doctor Coventry, professor of agriculture to the university of Edinburgh, declares, that in the corrected reports and publications therewith connected, there is detailed more useful and distinct information

SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURE 83

on various branches of agriculture, and on rural concerns in general, than was in print before these were drawn up. Hence it is that government and both houses of Parliament have applied to it for that authentic instruction, which could not have been obtained, with so much certainty, readiness, and without expence, from any other source.

Such, with many others that might be detailed, are among the advantages which have been derived from the Board and Society of Agriculture ; and they will be sufficient to enable any one to form a judgment of the great and increasing national benefits which may hereafter result from it. Its attention is directed to whatever may administer to the internal improvement of the kingdom ; and no object that tends to produce so desirable an effect, escapes the active vigilance and indefatigable spirit of enquiry which distinguishes its proceedings. Nor is this all. The agriculture of the East and West Indies has felt its improving influence. — We shall also observe, that it derives no other advantage from the public than the income of three thousand pounds voted to it by Parliament ; whose insufficiency is supplied by the contributions of its own members.* When then we reflect on the vast variety of objects which it embraces, the activity with which they are pursued, the knowledge it communicates, the comprehensive character of its intelligence, and the gratuitous labour of its directors, we cannot but consider it as an establishment which promises the most solid and extensive advantages, not only to the

* A statement of the manner in which the parliamentary grants received by the Board of Agriculture, prior to the 4th of September, 1796, that is, during the three first

84 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

country which can boast the honour of giving it birth, but to every part of the civilized world.

During the first years of its institution, the Society held its meetings, and transacted its affairs, by the liberal favour of Sir John Sinclair, at his house in Parliament-street. Since that period a mansion has been especially procured for it in Sackville-street, Piccadilly. The great room in that office, with an assembled meeting of the members, forms the subject of the engraving which appears as the frontispiece to this interest- ing chapter.

years of its establishment, have been expended, will not, we presume, be considered as an uninteresting addition to this interesting article.

£ *• *

Fees on the letters patent, constituting the Board . . 712 i o

Fees on receipt of the grant . ... 477 1 1 2

Expence for the surveys of the different counties . . 2171 3 6

Printing the surveys and engravings, &c. . . 3411 2 6

Postage and other incidental charges . . . 255 6 n

Office furniture and articles for the Museum . . . 118 19 6

Stationery . . . ... 106 14 i

Salaries to officers . . ... 1660 o o

Advertisements . . . . . . 77 12 4

German translations . . . . . 990

^9000 o o

For so great an undertaking as the survey of a whole kingdom, without adverting to the other objects of the Board, so small a grant as ^3000 per annum, particularly when so large a sum as ^1189 12 2 is deducted for fees of office, would not have made an adequate progress, had not about one hundred members of the Board subscribed ten guineas each in aid of its other funds ; and had not the president, Sir John Sinclair, supplied the Board during the whole of this period, and at a very considerable expence to himself, with every accommodation for carrying on its business ; and had not a number of individuals either gratuitously assisted the Board in drawing up the country reports, &c. or executed the tasks entrusted to them on the most moderate terms.

-

SOCIETY OF AGRICULTURE 85

The ordinary members of the Society of Agriculture for the

present year, 1809, are,

Sir John Sinclair, Bart. M.P. President.

Earl Manvers, V.P. D. Giles, Esq. M.P.

Lord Viscount Wentworth. Lord Beauchamp.

Sir Vavasour, Bart. V.P. Duke of Bedford.

Sir R. W. Vaughan, Bart. M.P. T. Tyrwhitt, Esq.

Sir G. O. Paul, Bart. C. C. Western, Esq. M.P.

Rev. H. B. Dudley. Earl of Egremont.

E. L. Loveden, Esq. M.P., V.P. Earl of Macclesfield.

T. W. Coke, Esq. M.P. W. S. Stanhope, Esq. M.P.

Earl of Suffolk. R. Hobhouse, Esq. M.P.

Right Hon. J. Foster, V.P. Lord Dundas.

C. Duncombe, Esq. Right Hon. Isaac Corry.

Montagu Burgoyne, Esq. D. Giddy, Esq. M.P.

Earl of Galloway. Sir J. T. Stanley, Bart.

Colonel Beaumont, M.P. Admiral Bentinck.

There are five hundred honorary members. Lecturer on chemistry -, H. Davy, Esq. Lecturer on agriculture^ A. Young, Esq.

86

SOMEKSET-HOUSE .

THIS magnificent building is situate on the south side of the Strand, on the site of a palace, whose name it con- tinues to bear, and of which some history must be given.

The commencement of the original palace was in the year 1549, by the Duke of Somerset, uncle to Edward the Sixth, and pro- tector of England. Its architect is supposed to have been John of Padua, who is stated by Mr. Horace Walpole, in his Anecdotes of Painting, to have enjoyed a salary in the reign of Henry VIII. which was continued in that of his son, under the title of devizor of his majesty's buildings.

The palaces of the Bishops of Chester and Worcester, with the Strand inn, an inn of Chancery belonging to the Temple, and the church of St. Mary le Strand, were all unceremoniously demolished, to afford a situation for this princely structure ; and without any compensation being made to the owners of them. Nor did the rapacious pride of this ambitious man, respecting the erection of his projected residence, terminate in these acts of tyranny and injustice. They were followed by others still more enormous : for part of the church of St. John of Jerusalem and the Tower were blown up, to furnish materials for the building. The cloisters on the north side of St. Paul's, together with the charnel-house and chapel, underwent the same fate. The tombs

SOMERSET-HOUSE 87

were also destroyed ; and the bones of the sacred dead were impiously removed, and scattered about Finsbury-fields. It may be reasonably supposed, however, that the vanity of Somerset was not gratified by residing in his splendid palace ; as, within three years after it was begun, he suffered on the scaffold. It might appear extraordinary, that sacrilege is not to be found among the numer- ous articles brought against him ; but, as it is properly observed by Mr. Pennant, every great man in those days, whether Protestant or Papist, discovered an equal spirit of rapacity after the possessions of the church.

On the death of Somerset his palace devolved to the crown. Queen Elizabeth made it the occasional place of her residence, and not improbably, according to her usual policy, at the expence of her kinsman, Lord Hunsdon, to whom she had given the use of it. Anne of Denmark, the queen of James I. kept her court here, " which," as Wilson relates, " was a continual mascarado, where she and the ladies her attendants, like so many sea-nymphs or Nereids, appeared in various dresses, to the ravishment of the beholders." During her residence it acquired the name of Denmark- House ; but it afterwards resumed and retained its former title, which has been transferred to the stately structure that has succeeded it.

This palace, however, appears to have been neglected and fallen into decay, as it received considerable alterations and im- provements from the queen dowager, Henrietta Maria, in 1662, at a time when she indulged the pleasing hope of passing her latter years in England. Those distinguished poets, Cowley and Waller, considered her majesty's attention to Somerset- House, as worthy of that praise which the muse can so well bestow. There

88 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

is a peculiar degree of tenderness and elegance in the lines which Waller composed on the occasion :

Constant to England in your love, As birds are to their wonted grove ; Tho' by rude hands their nests are spoil'd, There the next year again they build.

Catharine, queen of Charles II. found it an asylum from the profligate court of her faithless husband. As it was not compatible with his gallantries for her to remain at Whitehall, this palace was assigned for her residence. Nor did she quit it after his demise, till she withdrew to her native country.

While this queen was an inmate of Somerset- House, it became the haunt of the Catholics ; and possibly, during the popular frenzy which prevailed at that time against the professors of the Roman Catholic religion, in which she had been born, and to whose faith she was attached ; that circumstance might have occasioned it to have been made the pretended scene of the murder of Sir Edmonbury Godfrey, in the year 1678. The in- famous witnesses against his supposed murderers, declared that he was inveigled into the palace, under pretence of keeping the peace between two servants who were fighting in the yard ; that he was there strangled, his neck broken, and his own sword run through his body ; that he was kept four days before they ventured to remove him, when at length his corpse was first carried in a sedan- chair to Soho, and then on a horse to Primrose-hill, between Kilburn and Hampstead. There it was certainly found transfixed with a sword, his money in his pocket, and his rings on his fingers. The murder was evidently not caused by robbers, but the effect of private revenge : nor is it probable that it was committed within

SOMERSET-HOUSE 89

the walls of Somerset-House; for the assassins would never have risked a discovery by carrying the dead body several miles, when they could have so safely and easily deposited it in the river Thames, which was close by the supposed scene of their crime. The abandoned characters of the witnesses, Prance and Bedloe, the former of whom had been actually tortured to make him confess what he declared to be false, together with the absurd and irreconcilable testimony which they gave on the trial, have induced more enlightened and unprejudiced times to doubt the whole of the story, and to consider it as a fabrication of that fanatic and furious zeal which prevailed against the Popish religion. That he was murdered there can be no doubt : he had been a most active magistrate, and had consequently made many enemies. The marks of his having been strangled, which appeared on his throat, as well as his broken neck, plainly prove the impossibility of his having put an end to his own existence, which some have in- sinuated. But so strong did the torrent of prejudice run against the unhappy persons who were convicted of the crime, that no consideration could avail in their favour ; and they were all executed, asserting their innocence in the moment of death. One was a Protestant, the other two were Roman Catholics, and belonging to the chapel, who were probably selected by the in- stigators of the prosecution, in order to involve the queen in the uncharitable suspicion.

This tragic event, as may be seen in Evelyn's Medallic History, was, at the time, the subject of many medals. On one of them is the bust of Sir Edmonbury Godfrey, and two hands in the act of strangling him. The reverse represents the Pope giving his benediction to a man who is strangling another on the ground.

90 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

A second, with the same bust, displays the carrying the magistrate on horseback to Primrose-hill. A third describes him walking with his broken neck, and the sword buried in his body ; and on the reverse St. Dennis appears with his head in his hand, with the following inscription :

Godfrey walks up hill after he was dead, Dennis walks down hill carrying his head.

The architecture of old Somerset- House consisted of that mixture of the Grecian and the Gothic, which a very false taste had introduced into England in the reign of Henry VIII. and which was employed in all the considerable structures of that period. Burleigh- House, the noble seat of the Marquis of Exeter, near Stamford, in Lincolnshire, and which was built by the minister of Queen Elizabeth, whose name it bears, still continues a very stately example of this motley style of building.

The front towards the Strand was adorned with columns and their appropriate ornaments ; but it was become blackened by smoke, as well as defaced by time, and much of its decoration had mouldered away. In the center of the front a handsome gate opened into a spacious quadrangle, on whose southern side was an elegant piazza., stretching along before the great hall or guard-room, and the whole had a considerable air of grandeur. The front towards the garden possessed much architectural beauty: it was added to the building by Charles II. after a design of Inigo Jones, and was worthy of the master ; but the design was not completed, and some of the old building still remained when the whole was pulled down to erect the present edifice. It was placed on an elevation, with a central arcade, and formed the suite of royal apartments, which commanded a

SOMERSET-HOUSE 9 1

charming view of the river Thames and the Surrey hills. The garden, which was spacious, was decorated according to the style of the period : it contained an intermixture of gravel walks and verdure, skirted with shady trees, refreshed by fountains, and adorned with statues. It was separated from the river by a parapet wall, which was divided by a very handsome water-gate and landing-place, by Inigo Jones, which communicated with the principal walk that led up to the palace. A chapel had also been built by the same great architect. It was intended for the use of the Infanta of Spain, the intended bride of Charles I. when Prince of Wales ; but on the failure of that romantic match, it was allowed to be employed in the worship of the Catholic religion.

Queen Catharine, the consort of Charles II. was the last royal personage who inhabited this palace ; and its apartments have since been occasionally occupied by officers of the court, and others who have had sufficient interest to obtain such a privilege. It continued also to retain the palace character, was regularly attended by a military guard who did duty there, and had an established housekeeper, chaplain, and subordinate officers. By an act passed in the second year of his present Majesty's reign, it was settled on the Queen for her life ; but was afterwards exchanged, to suit the convenience of government, for Buckingham- House. The gardens were open to the public, and formed a very agree- able promenade for the inhabitants of that part of the metropolis.

The inconvenience arising from the distance that prevailed between the public offices connected with each other, and the remoteness of many of them from the directing points of govern- ment, had long been felt and acknowledged ; till at length, in the year 1774, the site of Somerset- House, as well for the space

92 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

it occupied, as its commodious situation, was considered to be perfectly adapted to answer the purpose of concentrating certain branches of the national business, which had been for some time in the contemplation of government. An act of Parliament was therefore obtained, for embanking the river Thames near the spot, for pulling down the old building, and erecting on the ground certain public offices, which were therein specified, together with such others as his Majesty should be pleased to direct.

This noble and magnificent edifice, which is erected after a design of Sir William Chambers, occupies a space of five hundred feet in depth and nearly eight hundred feet in breadth ; and forms a large quadrangular court, three hundred and forty feet long and two hundred and ten wide ; with a street on each side, to extend in parallel lines with the court, four hundred feet in length and sixty in breadth, to a spacious terrace on the banks of the Thames. The terrace is fifty feet in breadth, rises fifty feet above the bed of the river, and stretches along the whole length of the building. The streets on the sides, and the front towards the river, have not, however, been yet completed.

The elevation of the building towards the Strand, is composed of a rustic basement, supporting Corinthian columns, crowned in the center with an attic, and at the extremities with a balustrade. The basement consists of nine large arches, of which the three central ones are open, and form the entrance to the quadrangle ; the three on each side are filled with windows of the Doric order, enriched with pilasters, entablatures, and pediments. The key- stones of the arches are carved, in alto-relievo, with nine colossal masks, representing Ocean and the eight principal rivers of Great Britain. On the right of the center are the Thames, the

SOMERSET-HOUSE 93

H umber, the Mersey, and the Dee ; and to the left are the Medway, the Tweed, the Tyne, and the Severn. From the basement spring ten columns of the Corinthian order, on pedestals, with regular entablatures. This order comprehends two floors, a principal and a mezzonine. The windows of the former have a balustrade before them, and are ornamented with Ionic pilasters, entablatures, and pediments, while the latter are surrounded only with simple architraves. The three central windows have like- wise large tablets, covering part of the architrave and frieze, on which are represented, in basso-relievo, medallions of the King, Queen, and Prince of Wales, supported by lions, and adorned respectively with garlands of laurel, of myrtle, and of oak. The attic, which extends over three intercolumniations, and distinguishes the center of the front, is divided into three parts by four colossal statues placed over the columns, the center division being reserved for an inscription ; the two lateral ones have oval windows, adorned with festoons of oak and laurel. The four statues represent venerable characters in senatorial habits, and wearing the cap of liberty. In one hand they have the Roman fasces, the emblem of strength derived from unanimity ; while the other sustains the scales, the mirror, the sword, and the bridle, as symbols of justice, of truth, of valour, and moderation. The whole is crowned with a group, comprehending the arms of the British empire, supported on one side by the genius of England, and on the other by Fame sounding her trumpet.

The length of this front is one hundred and thirty-five feet. The three open arches in its center, form the principal entrance to the whole structure : it consists of a spacious vestibule, decorated with columns of the Doric order, whose entablatures

94 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

support the vaults, which are enriched with ornaments taken from the antique, fancifully as well as appropriately blended with the cyphers of their Majesties and the Prince of Wales. From this entrance there is a particular and covered access to the Royal Academy, and to the Royal and Antiquarian Societies. Over the door which leads to the former is a bust of Michael Angelo Buonarotti ; and over that through which the passage is to the latter, is one of Sir Isaac Newton. They are of Portland stone, and were executed by Wilton.

The back front of this part of the building, which faces the quadrangle, and consequently forms the north side of it, is considerably larger than that towards the Strand, being near two hundred feet in extent, and consists of a grand center, with two projecting wings. It has, however, the same style of decoration, excepting some variation in the forms of the doors and windows, and in the application of pilasters instead of columns. The wings indeed retain the columns, each of them having four, with a terminating antique altar, supported by sphinxes, which is tastefully introduced as a screen to the chimnies. The masks on the key-stones of the arches, are intended to represent the Lares, or tutelar deities of the place. The attic is enriched with statues of the four quarters of the globe: America appears armed, as breathing defiance, while the others are loaded with tributary fruits and treasure. In the same manner as in the front towards the Strand, the termination of the attic is composed of the arms of Great Britain, surrounded with sedges and sea -weeds, and supported by the marine divinities, armed with tridents, and holding a festoon of nets filled with fish and other marine productions.

SOMERSET-HOUSE 95

The other three sides of the quadrangle consist of very hand- some ranges of buildings in rustic work, corresponding with the interior of the principal front. In the center of the elevation on the south side, is a projecting loggio of four columns of the Composite order, whose entablature is surmounted by a balus- trade decorated with vases : there are pilasters on either side, with windows in the recess. Above it, but on a line with the main building, appears an attic, supporting a triangular pediment, whose tympanum is enriched with a basso-relievo, representing the naval symbols of Great Britain, supported by a sea-nymph, borne on sea-horses, and conducted by Tritons, blowing their conchs ; a subject peculiarly appropriate to a part of the building, which contains a principal office of the navy department. The corners of the pediment are decorated with naval trophies ; and a dome crowns the whole. Throughout the quadrangle there is a subter- raneous story, with an area guarded by a balustrade, which contains offices subordinate to those of the upper and basement stories.

In the court, and opposite to the entrance into it, is a statue in bronze of his present Majesty. It is by Bacon, and by no means a reputable work of that sculptor. At his feet is a recumbent figure of the Thames, with a cornucopia pouring forth wealth and plenty. The position of this statue is such as to excite the wonder, if not the ridicule, of the spectator, as it is placed behind a deep area, and on the very brink of it.

The front towards the Thames is designed to be the most splendid part of this vast structure, and it possesses more variety than is to be seen in any other of its elevations. It has a pro- jecting center, with a loggio and lateral pilasters, and is crowned with a dome. The buildings to the right and left of it are in

96 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the style of the northern part of the quadrangle ; while the projecting extremities, which are enriched with pilasters, are varied by central loggios, supporting triangular pediments. This superstructure is seated on an immense sub-basement, with a spacious terrace, which commands a superb view of the river, with Westminster and Blackfriars bridges, and the splendid and various objects that rise on its shores. The terrace, which is designed to extend, from east to west, eleven hundred feet, is supported by a lofty arcade, relieved by projections, which are ornamented with rusticated columns of the Doric order. The arches are twenty-two in number, besides a central one, or water- gate ; and the key-stone bears a colossal mask of father Thames, whose tide flows before it. The eighth arch from either side of the center is more lofty than the others, and serves as a landing- place to the warehouses under the terrace. Above these landing- places, upon the balustrade which runs along the terrace, are figures of lions couchant, larger than life, and admirably sculptured.

The principal offices held in Somerset- House are, those of the privy seal and signet ; the navy, the navy pay, the victualling, and sick and wounded seamen ; the stamp, tax, and lottery ; the hackney-coach, and hawkers and pedlars ; the surveyor general of crown lands ; the duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster ; the pipe, the comptroller of the pipe, &c. &c. &c. When the streets on each side of the building are finished, there will be dwelling- houses for the paymaster and six commissioners of the navy, as well as for commissioners, &c. of the victualling and other boards, some of whom already reside here. There are also commodious apartments in each office for a secretary and other subordinate officers. The north side is appropriated to the use

SOMERSET-HOUSE 97

of the Royal Academy, and the Royal and Antiquarian Societies. These offices, for the accommodations, variety, and elegance, must be viewed with astonishment and admiration by the stranger who visits them.

The facade of this building towards the Strand, is chaste and elegant ; though the basement exceeds the proportions required by the superstructure. The arches also are too small, and lessen the pretensions of the front to magnificence. The Doric arcade is very handsome, though perhaps too much enriched for that order ; but, on entering the quadrangle, the impression of the coup d'ceil is acknowledged by every one. Its general design and proportion defy all challenge; and, taken altogether, it may be said to rival the finest buildings in Europe. It is by far the proudest part of this edifice ; and we presume, that the print which accompanies this chapter, conveys a very correct repre- sentation of it. We cannot, however, but express our surprise, that the dome which surmounts the Navy-Office, with the pedi- ment beneath it, and the two cupolas on the eastern and western bides, should have proceeded from the same mind which con- ceived the rest of this superb court.

The elevation towards the Thames consists of several pretty parts, but they do not combine to form a magnificent whole ; and this defect becomes more evident when viewed from the water, or the opposite shore, with the ponderous surbasement that supports the building. Nor can we pass by the vast arches which appear beneath the loggios, without lamenting such a deformity. They may have their utility, but that it was not produced by a more pleasing arrangement, betrays an evident barrenness of invention. It is the faculty of genius to surmount

III. — H

98 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

difficulties ; and if it should be said, that when the various pur- poses for which the new Somerset- House is built, are taken into consideration, a more perfect exterior is scarcely to be expected : we shall only observe, in answer to such an opinion, that Inigo Jones, or Sir Christopher Wren, would have produced it. At the same time we most willingly acknowledge, that there are many parts of this edifice which mark the classical taste and professional superiority of Sir William Chambers.

Throughout the whole of this stately building, the compact and chaste proportion of parts is sufficiently evident to inform us of the architect's acquirements in his art. The columns are elegantly designed, as well as correctly proportioned and arranged : each has its mouldings, entablatures, &c. in that due regularity and symmetry which antiquity has established. In the general design parts are correspondent with parts, and in many, beauty with usefulness : there is not, perhaps, an improper moulding to be found throughout the whole. The ornaments are in general correct. To the Navy-Office, on each side the portal, are Tritons, in alto-relievo, with fishing tackle and marine symbols ; and, in basso-relievo, appropriate medallions above the former. On the west side are also medallions to the Victualling- Office, displaying Tritons with axes, and the heads of the boar and the bull. On the eastern range is the portal of the Office of the Duchy of Cornwall, which is decorated with relievos of the deities of the woods, with sheaves of corn and rustic emblems. In short, the whole forms a very splendid edifice, and is worthy of the nation for whose service it was erected.

99

THE STAMP-OFFICE

IT was said by the Right Honourable George Grenville, in Parliament, when he was first lord of the Treasury, that the most important word to him, as an Englishman, next to that of liberty, was revenue. In his day it had increased, and he directed his attention with the most particular solicitude to its advancement : but it is more than probable, that his most sanguine expectations could never have reached the enormous income which government derives, at this time, from the country, to meet its vast annual and growing demands.

Among the abundant sources of this revenue, the duty arising from stamps is not the least, though, from the still, silent nature of its operation, it impresses the minds of individuals less than any other. No exciseman enters our houses to demand it; no collector knocks at our doors to require it ; no menace accom- panies a delay in its payment ; no seizure or personal arrest follows from an inability to discharge it. The tax is only paid when it is our interest to purchase the article which has already been charged with it. These observations, however, must be considered as to its effects on the individual consumer ; because, it is well known, that, for mutual convenience, they, whose business regularly requires large quantities of stamps, such, for example, as the printers of newspapers, &c. settle accounts with the office at short and stated periods; and may be required to give security for the payment.

ioo THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

The Stamp-Office, also, appears to be proportionably less expensive to government in its establishment and collection, as well as less capable of evasion, than several of the other principal branches of revenue. Throughout its arrangements, compre- hensive as they are, it appears to possess the advantage of being more simplified than the business of many other offices ; though, perhaps, from its nature, that is, from the facility of its distribu- tions, and the regularity of its returns, it is more susceptible of simplification.

Stamp duties were first imposed in England, viz. on paper, vellum, and parchment, in the fifth year of William and Mary, 1694. How they have been increased, the vast variety of articles to which they are now applied, and the immense acces- sion of revenue which is derived from them, must be evident to the common observation and experience of every one who may direct his attention, in the most general manner, to the subject.

The office appointed for the superintendence and mechanical operation of this branch of the public duties, now occupies a large portion of the south side of the quadrangle of Somerset- H ouse ; and the scene of its operative purposes is correctly given in the preceding plate. Before the removal of it to its present superior position, the seat of its business was on the west side of Lincoln's- Inn New-square, and extended from the passage leading to Lincoln's- Inn-fields, to near the south corner.

The Stamp-Office is subject to the government of seven com- missioners, a receiver general, a secretary, a comptroller, a deputy comptroller, &c. and many inferior officers. On the old establishment there were forty-six stampers ; but the vast increase of business has occasioned a necessary addition of thirty-four,.

Rowlandson Of Pugin, delt. et scttlpt.

STOCK

THE STOCK EXCHANGE 101

forming a total of fourscore of these mechanical assistants. The gentlemen who at present occupy the principal offices are as follows :

COMMISSIONERS.

Gilbert Neville Neyle, Esq. E. Finch Hatton, Esq.

J. Bindley, Esq. Henry Hallam, Esq.

W. R. Spencer, Esq. Henry Bouverie, Esq.

W. Lake, Esq.

Secretary, C. Edwards Beresford, Esq. Comptroller, P. Brydone, Esq. Receiver, Joseph Smith, Esq. Deputy Comptroller, Charles Stedman, Esq.

THE STOCK EXCHANGE

SUCH is the national credit of Great Britain, says a certain able, but anonymous writer of the Continent, that she can raise more money in one month, than the rest of Europe can furnish in twelve. This opinion must be supposed to have been delivered at a time when the comparison might be fairly made, and previous to the period when the demon of revolution had bestrode so large a portion of Europe, dispersed and politi- cally annihilated so many of its countries and states, and had left this nation almost alone to proceed on the unaltered principles and practice of its original laws and constitution. When Europe was free to act according to its legitimate divisions, and under the respective governments which had so long composed it; when every power possessed its own unimpeded energies, the credit of this

102 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

country manifested its decided superiority, not only over that of every country in Europe, but of Europe itself. Indeed, it has been a kind of standing political miracle among foreigners, that ten or twelve, or not so many, merchants of London, should be able to engage in a loan to government of twenty or thirty millions sterling, which would be five hundred millions, and upwards, of livres Tournois ; and that the credit of these mer- cantile gentlemen was of such entire dependance, that, on the bare subscribing of their names, and making a small deposit, the administration should with confidence engage in the most expen- sive operations of war, and send forth fleets and armies, with the same alacrity and expedition, as if the whole immense sum were actually deposited in specie in the Exchequer.

Public credit, as it respects the system of finance and the funded wealth of the country, is no more than a mutual con- fidence between the government and the people, which disposes the latter to contribute very large portions of their personal pro- perty to support the exigencies of the state, whatever they may be, on the strength of obligations contracted and promised to be punctually performed on the part of the government, and strengthened by the sanction and authority of an act of Parlia- ment. Such is the nature of the public funds, which are, though improperly, called the stocks. They owe their foundation to the various loans borrowed by the government of this country from the public, through the medium of incorporated companies or private bodies of individuals, between the close of the seven- teenth century and the present time.

From the transferable character of the funds, they are as saleable a commodity as any other ; and are, consequently, in

THE STOCK EXCHANGE 103

a continual state of fluctuation, as the wants of the proprietors of stock lead them to sell, or the desire of investing money in it, induces others to purchase. This traffic is undoubtedly very great ; but there is another which appears to be of incalculable extent, and of which no accurate notion can be entertained : that is, the continual speculation on the adventurous principles of commercial risk ; or, rather, a most active and decided spirit of gambling, which is called stock-jobbing. A certain market, therefore, was necessary, to which the buyers and sellers could resort for their respective purposes, and in the vicinity of the Bank, the great depot, if it may be so called, of this fluctuating property ; and where the brokers, who are the great agents in these transactions, might assemble, to perform their delegated duties.

At a very early, if not at the earliest, period of the funds, this business was carried on at a coffee-house in Change-alley, called Jonathans, as the rendezvous of the stock-brokers ; and hence all the dealings of the stocks were at that time denominated dealings in the Alley, or at Jonathan's : and those terms were then as familiar, in speaking of the state and operations of the funds, as that of Stock Exchange is in our day. Mrs. Centlivre has intro- duced this coffee-house into a scene of her play of the " Bold Stroke for a Wife," which first made its appearance in the year 1717; a circumstance which proves it to have been an established mart connected with the funds at that period. She introduces a stock-broker on the occasion ; who, upon seeing two gentlemen enter Jonathan's coffee-house, says to his brethren, " I would fain bite that spark in the brown coat : he comes very often into the Alley, and never employs a broker." Garra way's coffee-house

io4 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

was also, for a certain period, a place of resort to the stock- jobbing adventurers. At length, however, the brokers built a room by subscription, opposite the Bank, in the year 1773, and called it the Stock Exchange. Since that period, a new and more commodious building, suited to the still increasing state of the national funded property, was provided at the upper end of Capel- court, Bartholomew-lane, opposite to the east end of the Bank. It is a plain building, with a stone front, except the attic, which is of brick. It was erected in the year 1801, for the exclusive use of the subscribers. It is an handsome, commodious, well- appropriated room, of whose interior appearance, the plate, which precedes this account, will be found to give an accurate and characteristic representation.

It may not be considered as an uninteresting addition to this article, to give an historical memorandum of each of the stocks and funds, &c. which form the immense transactions of the Stock Exchange, in their usual order.

Five per cents, or navy annuities. This fund was established in the year 1784: its capital on October ioth, 1784, was ^28,125,582 193. ;d.

Three per cent, consolidated annuities. This fund originated in 1731. It owes its name to the consolidating act, passed in that year. Its capital, on October ioth, 1784, was ^333,645,183 43. 5id

Bank stock. This stock originated in 1 694 ; the charter of incorporation bearing date July 27th in the same year. Its capital, on October ioth, 1804, was ;£i 1,686,800. The interest is 7 per cent.

Five per cent. 1797. This fund originated in 1796, by a

THE STOCK EXCHANGE 105

voluntary subscription, but was raised for the service of the year 1797, and is distinguished by the name of the loyalty loan. Its capital, on October loth, 1804, was ,£22,352,456 53.

Four per cent, consolidated annuities. This capital originated in 1777, by a loan of ,£5,000,000; which capital, by sundry augmentations, amounted, on October loth, 1804, to £"49,725,084 175. 2d.

Three per cent, reduced annuities. If this fund is dated from the time when the sums, forming the first part of its capital, were reduced to three per cent, it will be found to commence in the year 1757. Its capital amounted, on October roth, 1804, t° ,£115,096,561 6s. 4d.

Long annuities. They will terminate in January, 1860. They amounted, on October loth, 1804, to £1>O25,2O2 125. ojd. per annum.

The short annuities, which amounted to £"418,333 os. lid. per annum, expired in 1808.

Three per cent, imperial annuities. This fund was established by a convention between his imperial majesty of Austria and this government, signed in May, 1795. Its capital, on October loth, 1804, was ;£?> 502,633 6s. 8d.

Imperial annuities for twenty-five years. These annuities com- menced the ist of May, 1794. They are for ,£200,000 per annum, and will expire April 3Oth, 1819.

Five per cent. Irish annuities. They originate in part of two loans borrowed for the use of the Irish government in the years 1794 and 1795. That part of the capital which is transferable at the Bank of England, amounted, on October loth, 1804, to £"1,900,000.

io6 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Irish annuities for fifteen years. They amounted to ,£34,704 33. 4<1 per annum. Part of them, £8,400 per annum, terminated on the 24th of March of the present year, 1809 1 ar|d the other part, of £26,304 35. 4d. will terminate on the 24th of March, 1810.

South Sea stock. The capital of the South Sea Company, established in the year 1711, after several reductions, now amounts to £3,662,784 8s. 6d. Its interest is 3^ per cent.

Three per cent, new South Sea annuities. This fund was part of the South Sea capital stock, but in 1757 was reduced to three per cent. It now amounts to £8,494,830 2s. lod.

Three per cent. 1751. This fund commenced at that date. Its capital is £1,919,600.

Three per cent, old South Sea annuities. This fund also formed a part of the capital stock of the South Sea Company, and was reduced to three per cent, in 1757. Its capital is £"11,907,470 2s. 7d.

India stock. This is the capital or trading stock of the India Company. Its capital, on October loth, 1804, was £6,000,000. The interest is io|- per cent.

Navy bills. These are issued by the Navy Board in payment for stores, &c. for the use of government. They are negotiated like bills of exchange, at ninety days after date, and bear an interest of three-pence halfpenny per cent, per day.

Victualling bills. These are issued by the Victualling Board, and are, in every respect, the same as the navy bills.

Exchequer bills. Government issues these bills annually, to obtain part of the cash for the expenditure of the current year. The interest varies from three-pence to three-pence halfpenny per cent, per day.

ST. JAMES'S PALACE 107

India bonds. They are issued by the India Company, as their security for a debt due to the public, who hold the said bonds. They bear interest at five per cent, and are a very proper invest- ment for cash that is liable to be called for at an uncertain time, there being a daily market for them.

ST. JAMES'S PALACE

THIS royal residence, it must be acknowledged, does not wear an appearance suited to the character of the sovereign who there holds his court ; or to the power, wealth, and extent of that empire which he governs. Foreigners, accustomed to view the magnificence of the continental palaces, never fail to express their astonishment at its unappropriate exterior : and some of their travelling writers have almost doubted the affection of the English people for their kings, by permitting them to inhabit a structure so inferior in its figure to the proud character of the metropolis in which it is situated, and to the high claims of the monarch of the most opulent nation of the world. Nay, it is observed by a French writer, in a description which he has published of his visit to London, that the royal stables have the air of a palace, and that the royal palace has the appearance of a stable.

It was certainly the design of his Majesty, who has a taste for, and a scientific knowledge of, architecture, on his coming to the throne, to build a palace worthy of himself and of the nation ; and

io8 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

he had actually projected an edifice, which would fully have answered those purposes. The model of it, which was con- structed under his immediate direction, is to be seen in one of the apartments at Hampton Court ; and is a fine union of simple elegance, classic character, and edificial grandeur. It was in- tended, we believe, to have been erected in Hyde park ; a spot combining all those circumstances which render it the finest situation for a royal metropolitan residence in Europe. Why this design was not carried into execution, it is not for us to determine : but the cause, we think, may be discovered in the political events of a reign, which, however honourable to the British crown, and glorious to the British name, has not enjoyed that perfect state of composure, in which the cares of government would allow the paternal mind of the sovereign, the leisure to attend to such a display of domestic magnificence, or the loyalty of the people that freedom from agitation, in which, it may be presumed, they would have called for the adoption of it.

Windsor has, for some years, become the favourite residence of his Majesty, and with the improvements of its stately, superb, and splendid Cctstle, and its surrounding beauties, he has been pleased to content himself. The Palace which we are about to describe, has, for many years, been employed merely as the scene of the royal drawing-rooms on court days ; but, with all its dis- advantages as to exterior appearance, the number, succession, and proportions of its apartments are such, for every display of regal state and ceremonial connected with a court, that it may be said, we believe, to rival the most admired palaces of foreign princes.

It stands on the site of an hospital dedicated to St. James, which was originally founded by certain pious citizens of London,

ST. JAMES'S PALACE 109

before the conquest, for fourteen women afflicted with the leprosy, who were appointed to live in a state of celibacy and devotion : but being enriched by an accession of charitable donations, it was very much enlarged ; and eight brethren were added, to ad- minister divine service. A manuscript in the Cottonian library, mentions it as an establishment which had long been devoted to the purposes of charity and religion, at so early a period as the year of our Lord noo, in which William Rufus died, and Henry I. commenced his reign. It was rebuilt by Henry III.; and it appears that Henry VI. in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, granted the custody of this hospital to his new, pious, and royal establishment of Eton college. In the year 1531, the college surrendered it to Henry VIII. in exchange for the living of Chattisham, in Suffolk ; when that monarch caused the whole to be dilapidated, except the chapel, and erected the present Palace, which Stowe calls a goodly manor, on the spot ; permitting it to retain the name of the patron saint to whom the ancient hospital had been dedicated. At that time its revenue was valued at one hundred pounds per annum. On the quarrel between the great Earl of Warwick and Lord Cromwell, respecting the first battle of St. Alban's ; the latter, alarmed at the menacing resentment of that violent peer, was, at his own earnest desire, lodged here, as a place of security, by John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, then lord treasurer of England.

In this edifice, the kings of Great Britain have kept their court, since the palace at Whitehall was destroyed by fire, in 1697 : but it does not appear to have been inhabited by any of our monarchs till after that accident. James I. presented it to his son Henry, Prince of Wales, who resided here till his lamented death, in

no THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

1612. Whitelock mentions, in his memoirs, that Charles I. was brought here on January the I5th, 1649, by the power of the army, who had determined on his death. During his trial, he passed the nights in the house of Sir Robert Cotton, near Westminster Hall. On the 27th he was taken back to St. James's, where he passed his three last days in a solemn and religious preparation for his end. On the 3Oth, a day that should ever be accursed in the calendar, he was conducted through the park on foot to the scaffold.

James II. when the Prince of Orange approached the capital in force, sent him an invitation, which his humiliating situation extorted, to make this Palace the place of his residence. The prince accepted it ; but at the same time gave his royal father-in- law to understand, that he must withdraw himself from Whitehall. It was usual to mount guard at both the palaces ; and the old heroic Lord Craven was on duty when the Dutch guards were marching through the park to relieve him, by order of their master. With the honour and the spirit of a soldier, he had resolved not to quit his station, and was preparing to maintain his post, when he re- ceived the command of his intimidated sovereign to withdraw his party. But he obeyed the order with reluctance, says Dalrymple, and marched away with sullen dignity.

During the reign of King William, this Palace was fitted up for the residence of the Princess, afterwards Queen Anne, and her husband, Prince George of Denmark. From that time it has been the court of our monarchs.

It is an irregular, heavy, brick building, but of considerable extent, and is not relieved by any ornaments. In the front which presents itself to St. James's-street, is a Gothic arched gate- way, with embattled towers, which leads into a square court, where the

ST. JAMES'S PALACE m

company of guards on duty is daily relieved, and where it parades in form on state days : the colours are fixed in the center of it. On the south and west sides are handsome colonnades, forming a covered passage to the great staircase, which is at the south-west corner of it. There are two other courts beyond it, besides an inhabited open space, called the Stable-yard, but they do not deviate from the ordinary appearance of the rest of the structure ; though some of their apartments have an agreeable view over the garden, as well as St. James's and the Green parks.

On the west side of the first and principal court is the chapel royal, which is the same as belonged to the ancient hospital ; and, ever since the demolition of that building, has been converted to the use of the royal family. It is a royal peculiar, and conse- quently exempt from all episcopal jurisdiction. The cathedral service is performed there in great perfection. The ecclesiastical and other officers attached to it are, a lord high almoner, which always accompanies the archbishopric of York ; a sub- almoner, who is Dean of Westminster ; an hereditary grand almoner, who is the Marquis of Exeter ; a dean, who is the Bishop of London ; a sub-dean ; a confessor of the household ; a clerk of the king's closet, who is always a bishop ; three deputy clerks ; forty-eight chaplains, who preach in turn throughout the year ; ten priests in ordinary ; sixteen gentlemen of the chapel, with an organist, composer, choristers, &c. Before the King made Windsor the principal place of his residence, he always went, attended by the royal family, in great state, to the chapel on Sun- days, and after divine service there was a regular drawing-room.

The state apartments are of handsome proportions, and range in commodious succession ; but they do not contain those superb

ii2 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

decorations or splendid furniture, which might be expected to adorn the residence of George the Third.

The entrance to these rooms is by the staircase that opens into the principal court next Pall- Mall. The guard-rooms are at the top of it : that to the left is called the Queen's, that to the right is the King's, which leads to the apartments, and is occupied by the yeomen of the guard. Immediately beyond the latter is the King's presence-chamber, where the band of pensioners range themselves on court-days. That is a mere passage-room to the principal apartments, of which there are five, opening into each other, and fronting the park. The center room is called the privy- chamber, with a canopy of state, which is used on one peculiar occasion that very seldom occurs ; when his Majesty receives an address from the people called Quakers. On the right are two drawing-rooms en suite : the first serves as an antichamber to the latter, which is called the grand council-chamber, and where the councils of state were held when this Palace was inhabited by the royal family. At the upper end is a canopy, beneath which the King receives addresses delivered in form to the throne. In the center of the room is suspended a large chandelier of silver gilt. The canopy of the throne was put up on account of the union of the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and was displayed on the first drawing-room after that event, which happened to be the Queen's birth-day. It is of crimson velvet, bordered with a broad gold lace, and enriched with embroidered crowns, set with fine pearls. The shamrock, the badge of the Irish nation, forms one of the decorations of the crown, and is accurately executed. It is the apartment in which their Majesties hold their drawing-rooms, of which the plate that accompanies

ST. JAMES'S PALACE 113

this section will be found to give a very correct idea, with the accessory circumstances of those splendid scenes.

To the left of the center room, are two levee-rooms ; the first serving as an antichamber to the other. They retained their old and worn-out furniture, till the marriage of the Prince of Wales, when they were fitted up in their present state. The walls are now covered with very beautiful tapestry, whose colours are quite fresh, though it was fabricated for Charles II. It had never been put up, but had lain forgotten, during the long interval of so many years, among the useless lumber of the Palace, till it was accident- ally discovered in an old chest, some time previous to the occasion which suggested the appropriate use that has been made of it. In the grand levee-room a very superb bed was put up at the same time. The furniture is of crimson velvet, manufactured in Spitalfields.

The ball-room is in that part of the Palace which stretches on to the Stable-yard. It is of considerable dimensions, with ranges of seats above each other for the court : there is a gallery at one end for the musicians, and two side galleries for the spectators. The area is for the dancers and the royal circle. It used to be employed for the court balls on birth-nights and other royal festivities, when the assembled company formed a magnificent and splendid spectacle ; but it does not in itself possess the least decoration. It is painted of one colour ; nor does it appear to have been refreshed by the brush for many a year. But these festal scenes have been omitted for many seasons ; and indeed the Palace itself is only used for purposes of state. Some of the branches of the royal family occupy

different parts of it, which are especially fitted up for their suit- in. — i

ii4 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

able residence. The rest are inhabited by certain officers of the royal household, &c.

The apartments contain several curious portraits of personages who were remarkable in their day.

In one of the chambers near the levee-rooms, is a small whole- length of Henry, Prince of Wales, the son of James I. He is dressed in green, and is represented as standing by a dead stag, in the act of drawing a sword, as may be supposed, to sever the head from the body of the animal, according to the custom of the chase. A youth, Robert, Earl of Essex, afterwards the Parlia- ment general, appears in the attitude of kneeling before him. They both have hunting horns ; and behind the prince is a horse. The arms of England are suspended from the bough of a tree ; and near the young lord on the ground, are his own.

There is another small portrait of Arthur, elder brother of Henry VIII. painted when very young, with a bonnet on his head. Henry stands by him, and his sister Margaret, when they were children. The picture is by Mabuse, who visited England in the reign of their father.

There are also two whole-lengths of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. and each of them with a queen before an altar. The fortunate Jane Seymour, who died in her bed, is represented as the queen of the latter. This is a diminished copy from Holbein, made by Van Lemput, in 1667, by order of Charles II. The original was painted on the wall in the privy-chamber of Whitehall, and was consumed in the fire of 1697. To these may be added two half-lengths of the Duchess of York and her sister, by Sir Peter Lely.

Curiosity is very naturally attracted by the portrait of a child

ST. JAMES'S PALACE 115

in the robes of the Garter. He was the second son of James II. while Duke of York, by Anne Hyde, his duchess. He was elected into the order on the 3d of December, 1666, at the age of three years and five months. The sovereign put the George round his neck, and Prince Rupert decorated his little leg with the Garter. He was, we believe, the youngest knight who had ever been admitted into that noble institution : but death sternly denied him the honour of an installation, as he died in the course of the following year. — The diminutive stature of the dwarf Geoffrey Hudson is represented in another picture.

In the lords' old waiting-room is the portrait of Henry Darnley, who appears as a tall and elegant figure. His hand rests on his brother, Charles Stuart, Earl of Lenox, dressed in a black gown. —In another room is Charles II. King of Spain, when four years of age. He is habited in black, with a sceptre in his hand, and appears to be strutting and playing the monarch ; a character which he afterwards filled with little honour to himself, or advantage to his country.

Here is also the celebrated picture of Adam and Eve, by Mabuse. The critics have justly censured him for having painted them with navels, and placing a fountain, rich with sculpture, in the wild scenery of Paradise. Raphael and Michael Angelo, if that circumstance may soften criticism, committed the same error.

Mr. Pennant mentions, that in the Queen's library, as it is called, in the Green park, a room built by Queen Caroline, and decorated by Kent, but now used as a lumber-room, he saw the picture of a beautiful scene in Greenwich park, with Charles I. his queen, and several of his courtiers, forming a walking party ; and two others of the same king and queen dining in public.

n6 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

There was also another very curious picture, of the Elector Palatine, with his intended bride, at a public table, with a carver in a most ridiculous situation ; a monkey having risen from the table and seized him by the beard. This banquet was probably at Guildhall, where he was entertained with magnificent hospi- tality, in 1612, previous to his marriage with the daughter of James I. which terminated so unhappily to both parties.

When Henry VIII. built this Palace it was surrounded by a marshy field, which he inclosed, laid it out in walks, and, collecting the waters into an ornamental form, rendered it a pleasurable appendage to the edifice. It then received the more important name of St. James's park. It was afterwards much improved by Charles II. who greatly enlarged it, planted it with lime-trees, and formed the mall, which is a vista half a mile in length. At that time it was scooped into an hollow, smooth walk, inclosed by a border of wood on each side, with a hoop at the west end, for the purpose of playing at a game with a ball, called mallt that gave the name to this promenade, which it still retains. It preserved its original form, and the hoop remained, till his Majesty was pleased to give the park its present state of improve- ment. This hoop consisted of a round, slender iron rod, bent over in the middle, and being fixed in the ground, formed an arch of two feet in height and about two inches wide. The dexterity of the game, with which the king used occasionally to amuse himself, and was consequently a fashionable recreation, consisted in striking a ball through the hoop.

He also formed the water into a canal of one hundred feet broad, and two thousand eight hundred feet long, with a decoy and other ponds for water fowl. One of the avenues formed

ST. JAMES'S PALACE 117

by him acquired the name of the Birdcage-walk, which it still retains, from the royal aviary beside it, and the number of cages which hung in its branches. " Charles," says Gibber in his Apology, " was often seen here, amidst crowds of spectators, feeding his ducks, playing with his dogs, and passing his idle moments in affability even with the meanest of his subjects, which caused him to be adored by the common people."

At the upper end of this walk, near Buckingham-gate, there was a small piece of water, with a rail round it, known by the name of Rosamond's pond ; which, having been occasionally resorted to by unfortunate persons, who could no longer bear the sorrows of life, had a particular idea attached to it, of being a last resource of despairing lovers. It was applied proverbially in conversation ; and, in the lighter works and comedies of the period, it is referred to as the bourne to which desponding love was used to make its last appeal. It is mentioned in the Spectator under that character.

An island of willows, which formed a part of the decoy, and was called Duck Island, was whimsically erected into a govern- ment, with a salary annexed to it, by the king, in favour of Monsieur St. Evremond. He was, it may be supposed, the only person who ever enjoyed this singular office, which was most probably contrived, by the fanciful generosity of Charles, to afford a comfortable and easy support to a man of great merit, superior wit, and an enlightened mind, who had sheltered himself from the resentment of Louis XIV. whose displeasure he had incurred, in this country. Here his social qualities, literary attainments, and elegant manners, gained him the regard of persons of the first rank in it. He died at the age of ninety, retaining his fascinating vivacity and agreeable manners to the last, and was

n8 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

interred in Westminster abbey, where a monument was erected to his memory.

This island continued, to the beginning of his present Majesty's reign, with a house upon it, which one of the park-keepers was allowed to open as a place of entertainment ; it was much frequented, particularly on Sundays, in the summer season, by the inferior classes of the people. A bridge from the Birdcage- walk, nearly opposite the cock-pit, communicated with it : but this scene of pleasure, and the neighbouring too frequent scene of despair, have long been lost in the admirable improvements made in this park, under the direction of the late Mr. Brown, a man of real genius, who gave a new character to the improvement of rural beauty ; and who may be truly said, in the way of his profession, to have adorned his country.

The Green park, which must also be considered as an append- age to St. James's Palace, fills up the space between St. James's park and Piccadilly, with a fine expanse of swelling and undulat- ing verdure. A delightful walk traces its eastern and northern boundaries ; and on the southern side is the road leading to Hyde park, called Constitution Hill. From this ascent the view forms a very fine picture. The eye, after glancing over the bowery verge of the Queen's grounds, and the fine range of buildings on the east side, with their open gardens, looks forward to the towers of Westminster abbey, rising, as it were, from the leafy masses of St. James's park, and the more distant dome of St Paul's. It then stretches onwards, over a rich country, to the near and more remote hills of Kent and Surrey, which appear in the horizon : the whole combining a metropolitan and rural landscape of equal grandeur and beauty.

ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL

IT was said of Tyre and Sidon of old, those great commercial cities, that their merchants were princes. According to the genuine acceptation of that expression, the merchants of the metropolis of the British empire may certainly be dis-

tino-uished with the same honourable denomination. But, in a &

greater or less degree, this title may be claimed by eminent commercial men in every great trading city in any part of the globe. London, however, possesses an exclusive circumstance in her description, which belongs to no other city in the world ; and it is%this — that her Hospitals are Palaces. In different parts of it, what stately edifices arise for the relief of every evil, corporeal, moral, and intellectual, that afflicts the human species : diseases of every name, accidents of every kind, helpless infancy, friendless youth, decrepid age, moral infirmity, and mental derangement, find alleviation, restoration, reception, instruction, support, improvement, and renovation, according to their respective conditions, within these splendid receptacles, which the piety of kings, the beneficence of individuals, and the charitable associations of the people at large, have erected for the most benign offices of humanity. Such noble establishments may surely be considered as among the brightest distinctions of the British character and nation. But of all the ills which our flesh is heir to, there is no one so mortifying to our pride, so afflicting to our sensibility, as that state of the human mind when

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the lamp of reason is extinguished in it : nor is it less deplorable from the unconscious sense of those who suffer the lamentable privation ; while the charity which is exerted towards them derives a more elevated character from the decided disinterested- ness of a benevolence which cannot flatter our vanity or gratify our passions, and from which we cannot receive any return but the approbation of our own hearts. Of an establishment formed to support those of our unfortunate fellow-creatures who come within the foregoing description, we shall proceed to give a very particular account.

Saint Luke's Hospital for lunatics is situate in Old-street, on the western side of the City-road. It was first established in 1751, on a comparatively small scale, on the north side of Moor- fields, and derived its name from that of the parish in which it stood ; but the utility of the institution became so evident, and benefactors increased with such rapidity, that the governors, encouraged by the augmentation of their funds, determined to extend its benefits to a much greater number of patients ; and, accordingly, erected the present noble edifice, at an expence of forty thousand pounds. The first stone was laid on the 2Oth of July, 1782.

This Hospital is four hundred and ninety-three feet in length, and of proportionable breadth. It possesses an air of simple grandeur suited to its character, receiving little aid from architec- tural decoration.

The building is of brick and stone, and the north and south fronts are exactly the same. The center and the ends, which are distinguished by a small degree of projection, are carried higher than the intermediate parts : the former is crowned by a triangular

ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL 121

pediment, under which is inscribed the title of the Hospital ; and the latter are surmounted with a balustrade, which conceals the roof. In the front is a broad space, separated from the street by a wall, in the center of which is the entrance by a flight of steps beneath a kind of projecting portico, supported by Tuscan columns.

The building consists of three stones, exclusive of the base- ment story, and of an attic in the center and at each end. The center, on the floor level with the entrance, is occupied by an hall, apartments for some of the officers of the institution, and the staircase. It is filled upward with the staircase, having a lobby at the end of each landing, the committee-room, the respective apartments of the master and the matron, and the rooms of the several attendants. On each side, in each story, is a spacious gallery, of which the females occupy the western part, and the men the eastern. It is a view of the former of these which the plate represents to the reader. The hall at the bottom, and the lobby at each landing, separate the galleries, the entrance to which is from the lobby, by an open iron gate. The rooms of the patients are ranged along the south side of the gallery ; the greater part of the north side being open to the air, by wide and lofty sash windows, secured within by iron gratings. In each gallery are sitting-rooms, of two different descriptions : one is spacious, with tables and benches, and a large fire-place, inclosed with iron rails to the top of the chimney-piece, sufficiently wide to admit the heat into the room, and prevent accidents by fire. In this room the patients who are sufficiently composed, eat their meals together, and assemble for society as they think proper. The other room is smaller, with a similar fire-place, in which patients in a less composed state, are permitted to take their meals and sit together.

i22 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Every patient has a square room to sleep in, with a good mattress and warm bed-covering. Except a few, who are in the most offensive state of insanity, the patients sleep in sheets. The doors of the rooms are kept open all day, unless any one is confined by sickness. Not only the principal apartments of the Hospital are kept clean, but as much attention is paid to cleanliness in the cells and galleries, as in the apartments of a private house.

There is no part of this edifice under-ground : the floor that may be termed the ground floor, as being level with the entrance, is supported by arches that form the roof of the basement story, which is on the ground. On the eastern side of the basement story is a gallery for the most dangerous of the patients. There are, however, but few inhabitants of this quarter, the greater part of those who are deemed incurable, being intermixed with those of the upper galleries.

In the western part of the basement floor, are the kitchen, wash-house, laundry, and other offices. The whole of the base- ment story is perfectly dry, the floor being laid on piers of brick.

Behind the building are two gardens, separated from each other by a broad area, before the center of the building, in which the patients walk and take recreation. One, of course, is for the men, and the other for the women.

But this is not all. Attention is paid to the due management of the unfortunate inhabitants in the most minute circumstances, that may tend to their comfort and restoration ; and the regula- tions to that effect, are the result of deliberating experience, and anxious humanity.

The construction and arrangement of this edifice are too honourable to the talents of the architect, for us to pass unmen-

ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL 123

tioned the name of George Dance, Esq. clerk of the works to the city of London.

Experience had long shewn, that the Hospital of Bethlem was incapable of receiving and providing for the relief of all the unhappy objects who made application for it. Besides, the ex- pence and difficulty, attending the admission of a patient into that hospital, had discouraged many applications for the benefit of that charity ; in consequence of which unavoidable exclusion or delay, many useful members have been lost to society, either by the disorder gaining strength beyond the reach of physic, or by the patients falling into the hands of persons utterly unskilled in the treatment of the disorder. The most fatal acts of violence on themselves, attendants, and relations, have been consequent on the smallest delay of placing those who are afflicted with insanity, under the care of persons experienced in the treatment of them. The law also has not made any provision for lunatics ; while the common parish workhouses are by no means suited to their recep- tion, either in point of accommodation, attendance, or physical assistance.

To have joined this to any other hospital, not particularly adapted for the reception of lunatics, would have been highly improper and dangerous ; while the connecting it with Bethlem would have deprived it of two of its principal advantages, — the being under the immediate inspection and government of its own patrons and supporters, and of introducing more gentlemen of the faculty to the study and practice of a most important branch of physic.

Such were the rational and humane motives of the first pro- moters of this design ; while the support it has received, and is

i24 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

continually receiving, leaves no room to doubt, that it will con- tinue to flourish for the relief of those who of all others most want it, and to the honour of the British character.

From the foundation of this Hospital, in 1751, to the present time, near four thousand persons have been cured, and con- sequently restored to themselves and society, by means of this charity.

PRESIDENT. His Grace the Duke of Leeds.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

Edward Darell, Esq. Charles Shaw Lefevre, Esq. M.P.

Samuel Whitbread, Esq. M.P. John Weyland, Esq.

Treasurer, David Powell, Esq.

Physician, Dr. Samuel Fourt Simmons, F.R.S.

Surgeon, George Vaux, Esq.

ST. MAEGAKET'S CHURCH, WESTMINSTER

THIS Church is situated about thirty feet to the north of Westminster Abbey, and claims Edward the Confessor for its original founder. That monarch, having deter- mined to rebuild the conventual church of St. Peter in great splendour, thought it would add to its sacred character, were he to confine it solely to the use of the monks, and, consequently, excluded the inhabitants of the neighbourhood from partaking of its religious worship. He, therefore, to accommodate the latter, about the year 1064, caused a Church to be erected on the north

ST. MARGARET'S, WESTMINSTER 125

side of the abbey of St. Peter, and dedicated it to St. Margaret, the virgin and martyr of Antioch.

In the reign of Edward I. the Church was rebuilt by the parishioners and the merchants of the staple. The latter had been probably compelled by the king, for some actual or promised privilege, to contribute on the occasion. The chancel, however, was erected at the expence of the Abbot of Westminster. It was again rebuilt in the reign of Edward IV.

In the year 1735, it was not only repaired, but its tower was cased, at the expence of three thousand five hundred pounds granted by Parliament, in consideration of its being the Church where the House of Commons attend divine service on stated holidays.

It is a plain, neat, and not inelegant Gothic structure, en- lightened by a series of large windows, and with a flat roof. It has been lately repaired, and the inside refitted throughout, at a very great expence, and in a very beautiful style of Gothic decora- tion. The seat of the speaker of the House of Commons, which used to be in the body of the Church, is now transferred to the front of the gallery at the west end. A new porch has been also added to the west entrance. The tower rises to a considerable height, and is crowned with a turret at each corner, and a small lantern, ornamented with carved work, in the center ; where a staff rises, and, from its being a parliamentary Church, a flag distinguishes the days of public joy and festivity.

At the east end of the Church is a very beautiful window of painted glass. It was made by order of the magistrates of Dort, in Holland, and designed by them as a present to King Henry VII. for his new chapel in Westminster Abbey ; but that monarch

126 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

dying before it was finished, it was set up in the private chapel of the Abbot of Waltham, at Copt Hall, near Epping, in Essex. There it remained till the dissolution, when it was removed to New Hall, in the same county ; which place coming afterwards into the possession of General Monk, he preserved the window from demolition. In 1758, when this Church underwent a thorough repair, it was purchased by the inhabitants of the parish for four hundred guineas, and placed in its present situation. The subject is the crucifixion, with many subordinate figures, which are of admirable execution. On one side is Henry VII. and on the other his queen, both kneeling. Their portraits were taken from original pictures, sent to Dort for that purpose. Over the king is the figure of St. George, his patron saint, and above that a white rose and a red one. Over the queen is the figure of St. Catharine of Alexandria, with the instruments of her martyrdom ; and, above the saint, are the arms of the kingdom of Grenada.

This window, however, occasioned a considerable degree of uneasiness in the parish, and some religious controversy out of it, at the time of its being placed in the situation which it now decorates.

Among its accessory parts, there is a representation of a devil carrying off the soul of the impenitent thief, and an angel per- forming the same office to that of the penitent one. This was determined by some pious Protestants to be downright Popery, if not blasphemy, and that such superstitious allegories were not proper to be admitted into a church of the reformed worship. Even some of the chapter of Westminster Abbey, in whose gift the living is, expressed their discontents on the subject. The Rev. Dr. Wilson was rector of the parish at the time this ornament

H<,ii'l,i>i,l<r,n 4 1'ilflin, ill

3T MARGARETS.

ST. MARGARET'S, WESTMINSTER 127

was introduced, and had been a principal promoter of the pur- chase of it. He possessed a considerable private fortune, as well as large ecclesiastical preferment : he was also a man of learning, and throughout his life displayed an high, independent spirit : and had it not been for the resolution with which he maintained his right of placing the window in his Church, and the ability with which he defended its introduction there, it would certainly have been taken down, and probably lost to the public. The circum- stance produced a treatise on the antiquity and propriety of ornamenting places of public worship, which was written with great acuteness by Dr. Wilson, and contained a great deal of curious information connected with the subject. The window, accordingly, remained untouched, and the view of the Church, which illustrates this historic narrative, particularly displays it. The Society of Antiquaries have caused a fine engraving to be made of this valuable piece of art, at their sole expence.

This Church contains the dust of that illustrious character, Sir Walter Raleigh, who was interred here on the same day on which he was beheaded in Old Palace-yard.

On the tomb of Skelton, the merry poet laureat to Henry VII. and Henry VIII. is the following whimsical inscription. He died 2 ist June, 1529.

Come, Alecto, and lend me thy torch, To find a churchyard in a church-porch. Poverty and poetry this tomb doth inclose ; Therefore, gentlemen, be merry in prose.

The Church of St. Margaret is a rectory, in the gift of the dean and chapter of Westminster. It is one hundred and thirty feet in length, sixty-five in breadth, and forty-five in height. The altitude of the tower is eighty-five feet.

128

ST.MAETIN'S IN THE FIELDS

THE origin of this Church defies antiquarian enquiry. It is evident, however, that it must have been at a very remote period, as there are authentic records of a dispute so far back as in the year 1222, between the Bishop of London and the Abbot of Westminster, respecting the exemption of the Church of St. Martin in the Fields from the jurisdiction of that see. How long previous to this period a structure for the public service of religion was erected here, there are no means of form- ing a correct opinion. It has been supposed, and with some degree of probability, that it was a chapel for the monks of Westminster, when they visited their Convent garden, which extended to it. There is, however, sufficient proof, that, in the year 1363, which was during the reign of Edward III. the vicar of this Church, Thomas Skyn, resigned his benefice. But what- ever doubts may accompany the research into its original establish- ment, it is certain, that, in the reign of Henry VIII. a small Church was built here at the expence of that monarch, on account of the poverty of the parishioners ; who, it may be reasonably supposed, were, at that time, very few. At length, as the in- habitants increased, it became necessary to enlarge it : a spacious chancel was accordingly added, in the year 1607, which was erected at the expence of Prince Henry and several of the nobility. Many successive and expensive reparations followed ; but, in 1721, the building was taken down; and, soon after, the

ST. MARTIN'S IN THE FIELDS 129

first stone of the present splendid structure was laid. In five years the whole was completed; and, in 1726, it received the ceremony of consecration.

On the commencement of the building, his Majesty, George I. gave one hundred guineas to the workmen, it being his parochial Church ; and some time after he was graciously pleased to present fifteen hundred pounds for the purchase of an organ. The whole expence amounted to near thirty-seven thousand pounds. Of this sum thirty-three thousand pounds were granted by Parlia- ment, and the rest was raised by voluntary subscription and the sale of the seats. Gibbs was the architect, whose professional reputation would have been established, if this had been his only work ; but the New Church and St. Clement Danes, in the Strand, with the Radcliffe library, in the university of Oxford, were also designed by him.

This Church is of stone, and among the most stately buildings of this metropolis. In the west front is an ascent by a long flight of steps to a very noble portico, the design of which was taken from the ancient temple at Nismes, in France. It is composed of six Corinthian columns, and the royal arms, in alto-relievo, enrich the pediment. The iron rails, however, between the columns, have been thought to lessen its effect ; but, besides the absolute necessity of inclosing the area before the doors, there is no spot, where, from its confined situation, this splendid object can produce an effect at all equal to its capacity. The Corinthian order is continued in pilasters round the building, and the intercolumnia- tions contain two series of windows, surrounded with rustic. The doors on the sides are near the corners, with their appropriate accompaniments. An handsome balustrade conceals the roof;

III. — K

1 3o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

and the spire, though it does not vie with those of Sir Christopher Wren, possesses a secondary degree of excellence.

The interior decorations have great merit. The roof is en- riched with a beautiful fret-work ; while the roof and galleries are supported by a double range of Corinthian columns, with their distinct entablatures. The east end is very much enriched, and over the altar is a window of painted glass. The interior view of this Church will, we presume, be much more correctly con- ceived by the annexed view of it, than by the most minute and elaborate description.

It were, indeed, much to be wished, that an opening could be formed in the front of St. Martin's Church, as there is no structure in the metropolis that more particularly requires such an advantage. It has, we believe, been sometimes in contemplation to remove the royal stables, to convert the site of them into a square, and to contrive a street, which might serve as a vista, from the Haymarket to the portico which has just been described. It is to be hoped, indeed, that the time will come when such a desirable plan may be carried into complete execution. The portico possesses both elegance and grandeur ; and if the steps which rise from the street to the front, had been regular, and on a line from end to end, a very awkward appearance would have been avoided. This circumstance, it is true, was occasioned by the shape of the ground ; but Sir Christopher Wren would have contrived the means to prevent the defect. The columns, at each angle of the edifice, are happily imagined, and produce a very fine effect in the profile of it. The east end is very elegant ; but it must be observed, that the whole figure of the building would have been improved by an additional elevation. It is one

ST. PAULS CATHEDRAL 131

hundred and forty feet in length, sixty feet in breadth, and forty- five in height.

Foreigners, previously to their naturalization, must take the sacrament at this Church.

The parish, which is supposed to have been originally taken out of that of St. Margaret, Westminster, has so increased in houses and inhabitants, that it is become one of the most populous within the bills of mortality ; and though the parishes of St. Paul, Covent-Garden, St. Anne, Soho, St. James, and St. George, Hanover-square, have been taken from it, upwards of five thousand houses are contained in it.

The Church is a vicarage, and its patronage is vested in the Bishop of London.

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDEAL

THIS magnificent, august, and beautiful cathedral Church stands in the center of the metropolis, on an eminence be- tween Cheapside on the east, and Ludgate on the west. The best authority for its origin, is Sir Christopher Wren, the great restorer of it. He explodes the notion of its having been preceded by a temple of Diana. In digging for the foundations of the present structure, he did not discover any thing that could justify such a conjecture. It was his opinion, as appears by the Parentalia, published by his son, that a Christian church had been built on this spot in the time of the Romans ; as, in forming the foundations of his own design, he discovered those of a semi-

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

circular chancel of the old church. They consisted only of Kentish rubble stone, artfully worked, and consolidated with very hard mortar, in the Roman manner.

The first Cathedral of the episcopal see of London, was supposed to have been built in the area of a Roman pretorian camp, and all the succeeding fabrics have been placed in the same situation. This structure is believed to have been destroyed in the Dioclesian persecution, and to have been rebuilt in the reign of Constantine. It was, however, afterwards dilapidated by the pagan Saxons ; and restored, in 603, by Sebert, a petty prince who ruled in these parts, under Ethelbert, King of Kent, the first royal personage of the Saxon race who embraced Christianity. He is said, on the recommendation of St. Augustin, to have appointed Melitus first bishop of London. In 675, we find Erkernwald, the fourth bishop of London in succession from Melitus, improving the Cathedral, not only by his constant attention to its decorations and enrichments, but the augmentation of its revenues. For these works he was canonized as a saint ; and the shrine which contained his remains, continued to be an object of superstitious veneration, till the destruction of the church by fire in 901. It was soon after rebuilt; and, during the Saxon heptarchy, was the peculiar object of royal favour, and greatly enriched by royal donations.

This example was not followed by William the Conqueror on his invasion, as he then seized on some of its revenues ; though he afterwards made restitution of them. In that reign, and the year 1086, the conflagration which destroyed the greatest part of the city of London, once more consumed its principal religious structure. The Bishop Mauritius, however, began to rebuild it, but left it

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL 133

unfinished. His successor, Bishop Beaumes, applied his whole revenues to it ; and Henry I. encouraged the work by many important privileges. When it was actually completed, cannot be exactly ascertained. The steeple is supposed to have been erected in 1221; and the church itself appears to have been re- consecrated by Niger, Bishop of London, with great pomp, in 1 240.

The subterraneous church of St. Faith, ecclesia Sanctce Fidei in cryptis, was begun in 1207. It contained several chantries and monuments; and, according to Dugdale, extended under part of the choir and the structure eastward, and was supported by three rows of large and massive pillars.

The dimensions of the Cathedral were as follows : — The length of the body of the church was six hundred and ninety feet, the breadth one hundred and thirty, the height of the roof of the west part within, one hundred and two feet, that of the east eighty- eight, and that of the body one hundred and fifty. The height of the tower from the ground, was two hundred and sixty feet; from whence rose a wooden spire, covered with lead, two hundred and seventy-four feet in length; on the top of which was a ball, nine feet one inch in circumference. This was surmounted by a cross, which was fifteen feet in length, and its traverse six feet. Though, by this account, the tower and spire appear to have been five hundred and thirty-four feet in height; yet, in fact, they were only five hundred and twenty feet. The difference of fourteen feet was owing to the wooden base of the spire being let into the stone tower so much below the battlements.

According to Dugdale, the style of this spacious and magnifi- cent Cathedral was a most beautiful Gothic. The nave was

134 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

supported by clustered pillars and round arches ; the style pre- served by the Normans, after the conquered Saxons. The galleries and windows of the transepts were also finished with rounded arches. The screen to the choir was replete with elegance, and ornamented with statues on each side of the door. Over the east end was a beautiful circular window. To the industry of Hollar we are indebted for preserving the account of its ancient state. Its ornaments and riches transcended those of every other church in the kingdom. The high altar is represented as dazzling with gems and gold. The space which this immense building occupied was three acres and an half, one rood and an half, and six perches.

Among the numerous and superb monuments which it contained, there were very few which consecrated the dust of sovereigns, and they were confined to the Saxon race. Old John of Gaunt, indeed, who was the brother, the father, and the uncle of kings, slept there. He died in 1399, and a most magnificent tomb was erected over him, which was destroyed by the fanatical soldiery of the civil war.

The shrines of St. Erkernwald and Niger, Bishops of London, were very splendid in gold, silver, and precious stones. The former, in particular, had three goldsmiths to work upon it for a whole year.

Henry Lacie, the great Earl of Lincoln, an eminent commander under Edward I. ; Sir John Beauchamp, a younger son of Guy, Earl of Warwick, a distinguished soldier, and one of the first knights of the order of the Garter ; the accomplished, but ill-fated Sir Simon de Burley ; Margaret, Countess of Shrewsbury ; William, Earl of Pembroke, an active character in the reigns of Henry VIII. Edward VI. Mary, and Elizabeth; John Colet, the

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL 135

learned Dean of St. Paul's, the intimate friend of Erasmus, and the founder of St. Paul's school ; and that great and honest man, Sir Nicholas Bacon, are among those who names were an honour, as their monuments were an ornament, to the place of their sepulture.

We cannot but at the same time observe, that Sir Philip Sidney, the delight of the age, and the most heroic and virtuous character of his time, had nothing more than a board, with a miserable inscription of eight lines, to record a fame which will live for ever. His remains were brought to this Cathedral, on January 16, 1586, with the utmost magnificence. There was a general mourning for him, and it was considered as indecent, for many months, for any gentleman to appear at court, or in the city, in gay apparel. The partiality of an individual, as it has been well observed, may mistake the qualities of a friend, but the testimony of a whole nation establishes his merits beyond all challenge. The great Walsingham, also, was buried here ; but so far from obtaining a monument, he died so poor that he could scarce obtain a grave.

In 1109, St. Paul's Church was encompassed with a wall, which had six gates commodiously placed for admission to it. In the middle of the churchyard, on the north side of this inclosure, was Paul's Cross ; a place that is connected, more or less, with all public acts, from a very early period of our history to the civil war, when it was destroyed. Nay, it still continues to be proverb- ially used, when notoriety is intended to be particularly expressed. It was a pulpit formed of wood, raised upon steps of stone, and covered with lead, in which the most eminent divines were ap- pointed to preach every Sunday in the forenoon. In this act of devotion the court, the mayor and aldermen, and principal citizens,

136 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

used to participate. It was probably at first a common cross, and coeval with the church ; but when it was converted into a pulpit is not known : there are records, however, of its being in use as early as the year 1259. " It was used," says Mr. Pennant, "not only for the instruction of mankind, by the doctrine of the preacher, but for every purpose, political or ecclesiastical : for giving force to oaths ; for the promulgation of laws, or the royal pleasure ; for the publishing papal bulls, for anathematizing sinners, for bestow- ing benedictions, for exposing penitents under censure of the church, for reading recantations ; for the private views of ambition, and for defaming those who had incurred the royal displeasure."

To relieve the dulness of antiquarian narrative, we shall men- tion, that before this cross, in 1483, was brought, disrobed of all her splendour, Jane Shore, the beneficent and lamented concubine of Edward IV. She fell a victim to the malice of the ambi- tious Glocester, who, disappointed, by her admirable defence, of convincing her of witchcraft, and confederating with Hastings to destroy him, charged her with that frailty which was too easily proved. She was, therefore, consigned to the rigours of the church; and, in pursuance of the ecclesiastical sentence, clothed in a white sheet, and with a taper in her hand, was conducted to the cross, before which she made confession of her only fault, — that of being unable to resist the solicitations of a youthful and hand- some monarch. On his death she was reduced to necessity, scorned by the world, and cast off by her husband, to whom she had been married in her childish years.

"'In hir penance she went," says Hollinshed, "in countenance "and pase demure, so womanlie, that, albeit she were out of all "araie, save hir kirtle onlie, yet went she so faire and lovelie,

ST. PAULS CATHEDRAL 137

"namelie, while the woondering of the people cast a comelie rud " in her cheeks (of which she before had most misse), that hir " great shame wan her much praise among those that were more "amorous of her bodie, than curious of hir soule. And manie "good folkes that hated hir living (and glad were to see sin " corrected), yet pitied they more hir penance, than rejoiced "therein, when they considered that the protector procured it "more of a corrupt intent, than anie virtuous affection." She lived to a great age, but in distress and poverty; deserted by those to whom she had, during her prosperity, done the most essential services. " Proper she was and faire," continues Hollin- shed, " nothing in hir bodie that you would have changed ; but "you would have wished hir somewhat higher. Thus saie they "who knew hir in hir youth. Now she is old, leane, withered, " and dried up ; nothing left but ri veiled skin and hard bone ; and "yet being even such, who so well advise hir visage, might gesse "and devise, which parts how filled would make it a faire face."

Her tyrannic and bloody prosecutor caused this pulpit-cross to be the seat of prostituted eloquence ; and from thence Dr. Shaw and Friar Pinke were commanded to address the people, and infer the bastardy of Edward's children.

Among many curious circumstances connected with Paul's Cross, we shall just mention, that from thence, Holbetch, Bishop of Rochester, proclaimed to the people the death-bed remorse of Henry VIII. From this pulpit, also, it is stated, in Wooton's Remains, that Elizabeth ordered a sermon to be preached, in order to blacken the memory of the Earl of Essex, whom she once so fondly loved.

The last sermon which was preached at this place, was before

138 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

James I. who came in great state, on horseback, from Whitehall. After attending divine service in the church, he proceeded to hear a sermon at the cross, preached by John King, Bishop of London. The object of the sermon was, the repairing of the Cathedral.

Opposite to this cross stood a chapel, called the charnel-house, in which the bones of the dead were deposited with pious care ; and of which a thousand cart-loads are said to have been buried in Finsbury-fields, in the reign of Edward VI. when the Pro- tector Somerset dilapidated the building, in order to furnish materials for the erection of his palace, afterwards known by the name of Somerset- House.

This sumptuous cathedral Church remained upwards of two hundred years without suffering any diminution of its magnifi- cence, till, in 1444, its lofty spire was fired by lightning. The damage, which was considerable, was not fully repaired till the year 1462, when the spire was completely renewed, and a beautiful vane of gilded copper, in the form of an eagle, was placed upon it. In 1561, another accident of the same kind befel it, which was attended with far more injurious consequences ; as the flames communicated to the upper roof of the building, as well as that of the aisles, and not only consumed all the rafters, but whatever was combustible : and though very considerable repairs were made, in consequence of the munificent contributions of the queen, the principal nobility, and officers of state, it was found necessary, after all, to engage in a general repair of the whole edifice. At length, after various delays, Inigo Jones was appointed, in the year 1620, by James I. to undertake the work. It was not, however, till 1633 that the undertaking commenced; and in the course of nine years the whole was finished, except the

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL 139

steeple. That great architect appears to have committed a most extraordinary impropriety, in placing, at the west end, a portico of the Corinthian order, which, beautiful as it was, could never harmonize with all the Gothic parts about it. Nothing now remained but to complete the spire, which was about to be erected in a style of magnificent altitude, when the flames of civil war, more destructive than those of the lightning, obstructed this grand design ; and the scaffolding, erected for the purpose, was assigned by Parliament for the payment of arrears due to the army. But this was not all the mischief which this church sustained at that fanatical period. Its revenues were seized, the pulpit-cross was pulled down, the body of the church was con- verted into saw-pits ; part of the south cross was suffered to fall in ruins ; the west part of the church was converted into a stable, and the stately portico was turned into a nest of shops for milliners, and trades of that description, with lodging-rooms over them ; for the erection of which, Dr. Heylin observes, the magnificent columns were grievously mutilated, in order to furnish supports for the ends of beams, which penetrated their shafts.

At the restoration, a new commission was formed, for the immediate repair of this injured structure ; but while this pious design was in contemplation, the great fire of London reduced the whole edifice to little more than an heap of ashes.

In the reigns of James I. and Charles I. the body of this church was the common resort of the politicians, newsmongers, and loungers of all denominations. It was called Paul's-walk, and the frequenters of it Paul's -walkers. It is mentioned in the old plays and other books of the times.

This dreadful conflagration led, however, to the splendid

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

restoration of the metropolitan church, by Sir Christopher Wren. He first formed a model in wood, according to the best style of Greece and Rome, which was highly approved by persons of superior taste and judgment ; but the bishops thought proper to reject it, as not being sufficiently adapted to the usual form of Christian churches. He accordingly made a second, which he is said, also, to have considered with partial regard. This too was rejected. The third, however, was approved, and executed. Nor would it be doing justice to the powerful mind and com- prehensive genius of this great architect, to omit the observation, which so forcibly suggests itself, that the present beautiful and magnificent structure was the inferior design of the three which he successively offered for adoption. He is known to have preferred the first, which was altogether of the Corinthian order, and he would have put it in execution with more pleasure than that which has been since erected. The model is preserved in the church, and may be seen among the curiosities of the place.

In the year 1675, he began to prosecute the great work. Many and very great difficulties presented themselves, but his superior genius surmounted them all. In clearing the foundation, he discovered that the north side had been anciently a spacious burying-place ; for, under the graves of the latter ages, he found, in a row, the graves of the Saxons, who cased their dead in chalk-stones ; though persons of great eminence were buried in stone coffins. Below these were the last abodes of the ancient Britons, as was manifest from the great number of ivory and wooden pins found among the mouldered dust ; it being a custom with them to do no more than pin the dead body in a woollen shroud, and consign it to the ground ; and though the covering

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL 141

might soon be consumed, the ivory and wooden pins remained entire. At a still greater depth, he discovered a considerable number of Roman potsherds, urns, and dishes, which were sound, and of a beautiful red, like our sealing wax. On the bottoms of some of them were inscriptions, which denoted their having been drinking- vessels ; and on others, which resembled our modern sallad-dishes, beautifully made and curiously wrought, was the inscription, DZ. PRIMANI. and on others those of PATRICI. QUINTIMANI. VICTOR. IANUS. RECiNio. &c. The pots, and several glass vessels, were of a murrey or dark red colour ; and others, resembling urns, were beautifully embellished on the outsides with raised work, representing greyhounds, stags, hares, and rose-trees. Others were of a cinnamon colour, in the form of an urn, and though a little faded, appeared as if they had been gilt. Some, resembling jugs, were of an hexagonal form, curiously indented, and adorned with a variety of figures in basso-relievo. The red vessels appeared to have been the most honourable, as they were inscribed with the names of deities, heroes, and judges ; and the matter of which these vessels were made was of such an excellent composition as to vie with polished metal in beauty. Several brass coins were also discovered, which, by their long continuance in the earth, were in a corroded state : some few, indeed, had so far resisted the power of time, as to discover the reign in which they were coined. On one of them was per- ceptible the head of Adrian, with a galley, under oars, on the reverse ; and on others, the heads of Romulus, Remus, Claudius, and Constantine. At a smaller depth were discovered a number of lapilli, or tesselce, of various sorts of marble, Egyptian, porphyry, jasper, &c. in the form of dice, which were used by the Romans in paving \hzprcetorium, or general's tent.

142 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

In forming his foundations, the architect met with fresh difficulties ; which, however, his persevering mind contrived to conquer. Many reasons induced him to prefer Portland stone for the superstructure, but chiefly as the largest scantlings were to be procured from those quarries ; but as these could not be depended upon for columns exceeding four feet in diameter, he determined to introduce two orders instead of one, and an attic story, as in St. Peter's at Rome, in order to preserve the just proportions of his cornice ; or the edifice must have fallen short of its intended height. Bramante, in building St. Peter's, though the quarries of Tivoli would have furnished blocks of sufficient size for his columns of nine feet in diameter, yet not being able to procure stones of suitable dimensions, was obliged to diminish the proportions of the proper members of his cornice ; a fault which Sir Christopher Wren was determined to avoid. On these principles he proceeded to raise one of the noblest struc- tures of modern times. The first stone was laid by Mr. Strong, the chief mason, on the 2ist day of June, 1675.

The general form of St. Paul's Cathedral is a long cross ; the walls are wrought in rustic, and strengthened, as well as orna- mented, by two rows of coupled pilasters ; the lower is Corinthian, and the upper composite. The spaces between the arches of the windows and the architrave of the lower order, as well as those above, are filled with a great variety of curious enrichments.

The west front is graced with a most superb portico, a noble pediment, and two stately turrets ; and in the approach to the church through Ludgate-street, the elegant construction of this front, the fine turrets over each corner, and the vast dome behind, combine to form an object of the most impressive grandeur.

ST. PAUL\S CATHEDRAL 143

At this end a vast flight of steps, of black marble, extends the whole length of the portico, which consists of twelve lofty Corinthian columns below, and eight of the composite order above : these are all coupled and fluted. The upper series supports a noble pediment, crowned with its acroteria. The tympanum is distinguished by the representation of St. Paul's conversion, boldly sculptured in basso-relievo. Bird was the artist, and his name should not be forgotten in this description. The grand figure of St. Paul on the apex, with St. Peter on his right, and St. James on his left, add to the general effect. The four evangelists are also disposed with great judgment on the front of the towers. St. Mathew is distinguished by an angel, St. Mark by a lion, St. Luke by an ox, and St. John by an eagle.* Hill was the sculptor of these figures.

To the north portico there is an ascent by twelve circular steps of black marble, and its dome is supported by six lofty Corinthian columns. The dome is crowned by a large urn, of due propor- tion, and ornamented with festoons. Above is a pediment, supported by pilasters, in the face of which are the royal arms, with their regalia, supported by angels. The statues of five of the apostles are placed on the top, at proper distances.

The south portico answers to the north, and consists also of a dome, with Corinthian columns ; but as the ground is considerably lower on this side of the church, the ascent is by a flight of twenty-five steps. This portico has also a pediment above it, in which appears a phoenix, rising out of flames, with the emphatical word Resurgam beneath it. A singular accident produced this emblematical device. While the great architect was setting out the dimensions of the dome, he ordered a common labourer to bring

H4 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

him a flat stone, to be laid as a direction to the masons, when the man brought him the fragment of a grave-stone, on which was the word Resurgam. This circumstance was seized as a propitious omen by Sir Christopher, immediately suggested the idea of a phoenix, and produced the decorative emblem which has been just described.

At the east end of the church is a sweep or circular projection for the altar, finely ornamented with the orders, and enriched with sculptured decorations.

The dome, which rises in the center of the whole, is an object of superior grandeur. Twenty feet above the roof of the church is a circular range of thirty-two columns, with niches placed exactly against others within. These are terminated by their entablature, which supports a gallery encompassed with a balus- trade. Above these columns is a range of pilasters, with windows between : from their entablature, there is a considerable decrease of the diameter, and two feet above, it is again contracted. From this part the external sweep of the dome begins, and the arches meet at fifty-two feet upwards. On the summit of the dome is a circular balcony ; and from its center rises the lantern, adorned with Corinthian columns. The whole is terminated by a ball, surmounted by a cross, both of which are gilt.

This vast and splendid fabric, which is two thousand two hundred and ninety-two feet in circumference, is surrounded, at a proper distance, by a dwarf stone wall, on which is placed the most magnificent balustrade, perhaps, in the world, of about five feet six inches in height from the wall. In this stately inclosure are seven beautiful iron gates, which, together with the balusters, in number about two thousand five hundred, weigh two hundred tons and eighty-one pounds, which having cost sixpence

ST PAUL'S CATHEDMAIL.

ST. PAULS CATHEDRAL 145

per pound, the whole, with other charges, amounted to eleven thousand two hundred and two pounds and sixpence.

In the area of the grand west front, on a pedestal of excellent workmanship, appears the statue of Queen Anne. It is of white marble, with the figures of Britain, France, Ireland, and America, distinguished by their respective emblems and insignia, at the base. Lord Orford, in his Anecdotes of Painting, mentions it to be the work of Francis Bird. The north-east part of the church- yard belongs to the inhabitants of St. Faith's parish, which is united to that of St. Austin's, in Watling-street.

The entrance at the west end is by three doors, with basso- relievos over them, executed by Bird : the one in the center, which is much larger than the others, is cased with white marble ; and the sculpture over it, represents St. Paul preaching to the Bereans. At this entrance the vista has a very impressive effect. In the aisle, on one side, is the consistory court, and on the other the chapel for early morning prayer. Each of these has a screen of carved wainscot, of great beauty ; formed by twelve columns, arched pediments, and the royal arms, with appropriate enrich- ments. The large cross aisle connects the north and south porticos, and over the center of it is the dome. This aisle forms the subject of the plate that illustrates this architectural descrip- tion. The organ gallery is supported by eight Corinthian columns of blue and white marble ; and the organ itself is enriched with a profusion of carved work, in suitable ornaments and stately figures. Beneath it is the entrance into the choir, which has thirty stalls on each side, the bishop's throne on the south side, and the corre- sponding seat of the lord mayor on the north. There is a range of closets above them ; and the carved ornaments of the whole are of superior workmanship. The altar-piece is adorned with

III. — L

146 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

four fluted pilasters, painted and veined in imitation of lapis lazuli, with double gilt capitals. The floor of the choir, and indeed of the whole church, is paved with marble ; but, within the rails of the altar, with polished porphyry, and laid in geometrical figures.

The vault of the church is hemispherical, consisting of twenty- four cupolas, cut off semicircular, with segments to join the great arches one way, and the other way they are cut across with eliptical cylinders, to let in the upper lights of the nave ; but in the aisles the lesser cupolas are cut both ways in semicircular sections, and altogether produce a graceful geometrical form, distinguished with circular wreaths, which is the horizontal section of the cupola. The arches and wreaths are of stone, carved ; the spandrels between are of sound brick, invested with stucco of cockle-shell lime, which becomes as hard as Portland stone ; and which, having large planes between the stone ribs, are capable of additional ornaments in painting, if they should be required. Besides these twenty-four cupolas, there is an half cupola at the east, and the great cupola, of an hundred and eight feet in diameter, in the middle of the crossing of the great aisles. In this the architect imitated the Pantheon at Rome, except that the upper order is there only umbratile, and distinguished by different coloured marbles ; in St. Paul's it is extant out of the walls. The Pantheon is no higher within than its diameter ; St. Peter's is two diameters : the one is consequently too high, the other too low. St. Paul's is a mean between both, which shews its concave every way, and is very lightsome by the windows of the upper order, which strike down the light through the great colonnade, that encircles the dome without, and serves for the abutment of the dome, which is brick, and of two bricks in thickness ; but as it rises every way five feet high, has a course of excellent brick,

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL 147

of eighteen inches long, banding through the whole thickness ; and to make it still more secure, it is surrounded with a vast chain of iron, strongly linked together at every ten feet : this chain is let into a channel cut into the bandage of Portland stone, and defended from the weather by filling the groove with lead. Over the first cupola is raised another structure of a cone of bricks, so built as to support a stone lantern of an elegant form, and termina- ting in ornaments of copper gilt. As the whole church above the vaulting is covered with a substantial oaken roof and lead, the brick cone was kept out of sight with another cupola of timber and lead ; and between this and the cone are easy stairs, that ascend to the lantern. Here is a display of contrivances which are calculated to excite the utmost astonishment.

Sir Christopher well knew that paintings are liable to decay, and it is evident to every beholder, that those which decorate the cupola are already decaying. It was his intention to have beautified the inside of it with mosaic work, which, both in colour and material, would have been as durable as the building itself; but in this, as in many other of his grand designs, he was over- ruled, though he had undertaken to engage several of the most ingenious artists from Italy in that profession. This part, how- ever, is painted and decorated by Sir James Thornhill, the most eminent artist of his day ; who, in eight compartments, has repre- sented the principal passages in the life of St. Paul, viz. his conversion ; the punishment of Elymas, the sorcerer, with blind- ness ; his preaching at Athens ; the cure of the cripple at Lystra ; his preaching at Ephesus ; his trial before Agrippa ; and his shipwreck on the island of Melita.

The highest or last stone on the top of the lantern was laid by Mr. Christopher Wren, the son of the great architect, in 1710,

1 48 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

though the decorations were not completed till the year 1723. It may be considered as a very extraordinary circumstance, that this magnificent fabric, though it was thirty-five years in building, was begun and finished by one architect, Sir Christopher Wren, one principal mason, Mr. Strong, and under one prelate, Henry Compton, Bishop of London ; while St. Peter's at Rome, the only structure that can come in competition with it, employed an hundred and thirty-five years, the reigns of nineteen popes, and twelve successive architects, assisted by the power of the Roman see, attended by the first artists, of this long period, in sculpture, statuary, painting, and mosaic, and facilitated by the ready acqui- sition of marble from the neighbouring quarries of Tivoli. It has often been erroneously represented, that our superb metropolitan Cathedral was built after the model of that famous temple : on the contrary, it is the entire conception of our great English architect ; and has even been preferred, in some respects, by eminent judges, to the Roman Basilica.

The old Cathedral, as it has been already mentioned, contained many splendid monuments, to perpetuate the memory of the brave, the good, and the great ; but it was not till Westminster Abbey could hold no more, that the modern St. Paul's was allowed to receive them. Dr. Johnson and Mr. Howard were first honoured with monuments in the metropolitan church. The Captains Burges and Faulkner were the next to whom public memorials appeared ; and they have been followed by monuments of costly sculpture, to record the gratitude of the nation to Sir Ralph Abercrombie, Major-General Thomas Dundas, the Captains Westcot, Moss, Riou, and Willet Miller, who bravely died in fighting its battles. The statue of Sir William Jones has also been erected by the East India Company, to commemorate the

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL 149

upright and able discharge of public duty, the rare learning, and private virtues, which distinguished his valuable life. In the vault beneath, and under the center of the dome, are deposited the remains of Earl Nelson, which, in gratitude for the splendid services he had performed for his country, were honoured with a magnificent funeral, at the expence of the nation.

The trophies of British valour, also, appear in the various flags which hang beneath the dome. They mark the signal victories obtained by Lord Howe, Lord Duncan, and Lord Nelson, over the French, the Dutch, and the Spanish navies.

The principal British painters, with Sir Joshua Reynolds at their head, proposed to add to the splendour of this Cathedral, by painting a series of pictures, to adorn it ; but Dr. Terrick, who was at that time Bishop of London, refused to admit decorations, which he did not think consistent with the character of a Protes- tant church. The offer was repeated to that learned divine and distinguished scholar, Dr. Lowth, who succeeded him : he also chose to decline it, as it was supposed, from a sense of delicacy to his more scrupulous predecessor.

The curiosities of St. Paul's are—

i. The library. It is an handsome room, about fifty feet by forty, having shelves of books to the top, with a gallery running along the sides. The floor is of oak, consisting of 2376 small square pieces, and is very curiously inlaid, without a nail or peg to fasten the parts. The collection of books is neither large nor very valuable : it contains, however, some Latin manuscripts, beauti- fully written by the monks upwards of eight hundred years ago ; and an English illuminated manuscript, written about five hundred years since : they are both in fine preservation. Over the fire- place is the portrait of Dr. Henry Compton, who filled the see of

i5o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

London during the whole time in which the Cathedral was building, and who fitted up this library at his own expence.

2. The model^ the first design of the Cathedral ; a most interest- ing object, both from its intrinsic beauty, uniting at once both sim- plicity and variety, and its being the favourite design of the great architect. It is to be lamented, that so little care is taken to preserve it. Here is also the model of an altar-piece, which the architect intended for the Cathedral, had his original design been adopted.

3. The clockwork, which is very curious, as well for the magni- tude of its machinery, as for the correctness of its workmanship.

4. The great bell in the southern tower weighs 11,470 pounds. The hammer of the clock strikes the hours on this bell. It is never tolled but on the death of some one of the royal family, the bishop of London, or the dean of the church.

5. The whispering gallery. Sounds are here magnified to an astonishing degree, the least whisper being heard round the whole circumference. A person speaking softly against the wall on the one side is distinctly heard on the other, though the intervening space is an hundred and forty feet. Here the paintings of the dome, by Sir James Thornhill, are seen to the greatest advantage.

6. The ball is remarkable for its height and size. The ascent is attended with some difficulty, and few attempt it. Its interior diameter is six feet two inches, and it will contain twelve persons. It weighs 5600 pounds, and the cross above it, 3360 pounds.

The prospect from the ascent to the top is progressively curious. The extent and variety of the surrounding country, the bird's-eye view of London, with all its spires and towers, the broad line of water formed by the Thames, and the diminished state of all living and moving objects, combine a very extra- ordinary view of pigmy minuteness and geographical grandeur.

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

THE DIMENSIONS OF THE CHURCH.

Length and

Feet. The whole length of the church

and porch . . .500

The breadth within the doors of

the porticos The breadth of the front, with the

turrets . ...

The breadth of the front, without

the turrets The breadth of the church and

three naves The breadth of the church and

widest chapels

The length of the porch within . The breadth of the porch within . The length of the platea at the

upper steps

The breadth of the nave at the door The breadth of the nave at the

third pillar and tribune

250

180

no

130

180

20

100 40

Breadth.

The breadth of the side aisles

The distance between the pillars of the nave

Breadth of the sides of the cupola pilasters

The distance between those pilas- ters . ...

The outward diameter of the cup- ola . .

The inward diameter of the same

The length from the door within the cupola

From the cupola to the end of the tribune

The breadth of the turrets .

The outward diameter of the lantern .

Feet. 17

25

35 40

J45 100

190

170 35

18

40

From the ground without to the

top of the cross . Of the turrets To the top of the highest statues

on the front The first pillars of the Corinthian

order . ...

The breadth of the same Their bases and pedestals . Their capital

The architrave, frieze, and cornice The composite pillars The ornaments above and below .

The Height.

The triangle of the mezzo-relievo, 340 with its cornice . 222 Wide . .

The basis of the cupola to the 135 pedestals of the pillars

The pillars of the cupola 33 Their bases and pedestals .

4 Their capitals, architrave, frieze, 13 and cornice.

5 From the cornice, to the outward 10 slope of the cupola

25 The lantern from the cupola to 1 6 the ball

18

74

38

28

5

12

40

5°

152 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Feet. Feet.

The ball in diameter . . 6 Outward slope of the cupola . 50

The cross, with its ornaments The height of the niches in the

below . ... 6 front . . 14

The statues on the front, with Wide . ... 5

their pedestals . '-15 The first windows in the front . 13

Cupola and lantern, from the Wide . ... 7

cornice of the front, to the top

of the cross . . .240

The extent of the ground-plot on which this church stands, is two acres, sixteen perches, twenty-three yards, and one foot ; and the whole expence of erecting this edifice, amounted to seven hundred and thirty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty-two pounds, two shillings, and three pence.

That the Cathedral of St. Paul is without defects, no one will assert ; but that its beauties so greatly predominate, as in a great measure to obscure them, no one will deny. Nor can there be a doubt that the former would have been less, and the latter more, if the sublime and cultivated imagination of the architect had not been controuled by the refusal of his original design, and in many leading points of that which was adopted. It must be acknow- ledged, that its interior appearance by no means corresponds with its exterior splendour ; but the chilling nakedness, of which there is too much reason to complain, arose from necessity, and not from choice ; it being evident that the whole is arranged for the reception of ornaments, if a more enlightened administration of the structure should hereafter allow of their admission. Gwynne, in his section of the church, so finely engraved by Rooker, has intro- duced fancied decorations in a way to prove, that, had the superior and refined taste of the architect been allowed to operate, his work would have baffled the objection. He wished to have

ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL 153

enriched the dome by covering it with copper double gilt ; but that was denied him. The opening to the Thames, for which he so strongly contended, was also refused. It is indeed astonishing, when the opposition which he met with at all points is considered, that he could produce such a fabric as that which now dignifies and adorns the metropolis. There is, in fact, no view in which the sublime imagination and vast intellect of the great architect can be regarded with an higher degree of wonder and venerating admiration, than, on the compulsory departure from his original design, his contriving such a master-piece of art as that which has supplied its place. It should be, also, observed, that its picturesque effect cannot be exceeded. Wherever London is visible, there it predominates in all the pride of magnificent beauty. Take it in all its parts, and under all its circumstances, it is one of the proudest efforts of human genius now existing.

Sir Christopher Wren survived the completion of his great work thirteen years, and died February 25, 1723, in the ninety- first year of his most useful and distinguished life. His remains were interred in the great vault of his own church : a common stone covers his grave, and on the wall above it is the following- inscription, dictated by filial piety and veneration. It was written by his son.

Subtus conditur,

Hujus ecclesiae et urbis conditor, CHRISTOPHERUS WREN ;

Qui vixit annos ultra nonaginta, Non sibi, sed bono publico.

Lector, si monumentum requiris, Circumspice.

'54

SUEEEY INSTITUTION

WHEN men fed on the spontaneous produce of the earth, and had no other shelter than caves from the inclemency of the seasons, their wants were few and easily supplied. But when the human species had multiplied, and societies were formed ; when necessity had produced inven- tion, when habitations were erected, and ships were built, however imperfect their original construction might be ; new wants were created, and the means of gratifying them discovered : the human mind then became enlarged ; while the sanctions of religion, and the restraints of law, were employed to secure the happiness of social man.

At such a period of society the acquisition and diffusion of knowledge must have been the natural, and indeed the necessary objects of general attention and individual research. To gratify the numerous and increasing wants which a more extended and civilized state of society creates, the powers of the understanding must be exerted ; and they never will be exerted in vain. Thus it is, that the arts have acquired their present state of excellence ; hence it is that they are advancing with rapid strides towards perfection. The boldest philosopher of ancient times would have trembled at the thought of defying the thunder of the clouds, of navigating distant oceans, or of diving to the bottom of the sea.

SURREY INSTITUTION 155

The art of printing, the power of the steam-engine, the discoveries in electricity and chemistry, &c. have changed, as it were, the face of society ; and what their improved effects may hereafter produce, is not within the reach of human calculation. It is our duty, however, to advance as far as depends on us, by the exertion of our own powers, or the encouragement of them in others, to accelerate the progress of knowledge ; it being an incontrovertible truth, that the civilization of man's condition, from a state of ignorance and barbarism, to that of the highest cultivation and refinement, has ever been effected by encouraging the arts, and promoting science ; while the pre-eminence of any people must proportionably attach to the attainment of them.

To point out the causes which tend to impede the progress of knowledge, and to invite the public to join in effectually removing them, is a noble exertion of the understanding, as it is a prime patriotic duty : and such is the leading object of the Surrey Institution.

If, as Dr. Johnson has asserted, the chief glory of every people arises from its authors, public establishments, which are formed for the advancement of literature, are the highest ornaments of a nation in every state of refinement. When instituted by govern- ment, and supported by the nation, they afford distinction to the most enlightened members of the community, and furnish the means of circulating knowledge over every part of the globe. When formed by individuals, they prove a center of general communication, an incentive to mutual improvement, the means of qualifying the young for the important duties of life, and of furnishing more mature age with an easy source of rational pleasure.

156 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

It has been well observed, that commerce is the handmaid to the arts : but though the facility of intercourse, and the general diffusion of wealth, produced by commerce, are sources of in- tellectual improvement ; yet it must be admitted, that the com- mercial and literary characters are oftentimes too much separated. By the frequent intercourse of men of different ages and various pursuits, and by ready access to well-selected libraries, knowledge becomes more correct, taste more refined, and sentiments more liberal.

The Institution already established, a description of which has been given at large in a former part of this volume, had proved the active disposition of the public to patronize such undertakings ; and the extent of the metropolis was a sufficient reason for the formation of another, in a populous and central situation. The vicinity of Blackfriars bridge suggested the advantage of fixing on the south side of the river, in order to connect that district of increasing population with the southern part of London. The great encouragement expected from the county of Surrey, and the opportunity of engaging a convenient building already erected, and capable of being immediately accommodated to the purpose, induced the proprietors to denominate this establishment The Surrey Institution.

Their object comprises a series of lectures, an extensive library, and reading-rooms ; a chemical laboratory and philosophical apparatus ; together with a supplementary library, the books of which, under certain restrictions, may be perused at the houses of the subscribers. It may be also reasonably expected, that, as some of the principal manufactories about London are on the south side of the river, the laboratory and its appendages will be

SURREY INSTITUTION 157

rendered experimentally subsidiary to the knowledge of the artisan ; and may be further improved by the suggestions of men of science, whose time is at their own command, and whose zeal is equal to their talents.

The entrance to this academic mansion is in Blackfriars-road, beneath an elegant portico of the Ionic order, which is crowned with the appropriate statue of Contemplation, and forms a very pleasing object. In the hall there are communications with the dwelling-house of the secretary and his office. A vestibule then opens into a spacious anti-room, which is intended for the reception of the larger kind of philosophical apparatus ; and from thence, through folding doors, is the entrance to a very elegant apartment, fitted up in the style of a Grecian temple ; whose dome and en- tablature are apparently supported by eight Corinthian columns, between which are placed bronze statues of the different fathers of science and literature, such as Homer, Bacon, Locke, Newton, Franklin, &c. Beneath the intercolumniation are four large niches, which contain the philosophical apparatus employed by the professor of that department in his lectures. On the right and left are the reading and pamphlet-rooms, which are of hand- some proportions, and most commodiously adapted to their respective purposes : they are lighted by skylights. Contiguous to these apartments are the conversation-rooms, one of which opens into the theatre where the public lectures are delivered. It may be said, with a strict adherence to truth, that this theatre is one of the most elegant rooms in the metropolis. It contains two galleries ; one, which is the uppermost, is supported by eight Doric columns, of Derbyshire marble, whose entablature is crowned by a balustrade of the same materials. The gallery

158 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

beneath is curiously constructed, being sustained by iron columns and their projecting cantalivers or trusses. The diameter of the theatre is thirty-six feet ; and the parterre, or ground part, contains nine rows of seats, which rise above each other in commodious gradation. The first gallery contains two, and that above it three rows of seats. The light is received from the dome, and warmth is administered in the winter season by flues containing heated air, which are concealed in the wall. Great attention has also been paid to its necessary ventilation. In this noble apartment, which is calculated to contain upwards of five hundred persons, the lectures are delivered. A very adequate idea, we trust, may be conceived of it, on such an interesting occasion, from the repre- sentation given in the annexed print. Nor when we mention Mr. Frederic Accum as the professor of chemistry and mineralogy, shall we be accused of any undue preference, if we represent him as affording great delight, as well as instruction, to the numerous auditories which attend his lectures. There are also very highly qualified professors in natural and moral philosophy, as well as in

other branches of literature and the arts, who deliver their lectures

«

annually in this theatre.

Adjoining the theatre and near the inclosed part appropriated to the lecturer, is the chemical laboratory, in which convenience, compactness, and elegance are united. Contiguous to it is the committee-room. On the other side of the theatre is the library, which is sixty feet in length, with a gallery on three sides, and an easy access to it by a flight of steps. This room is rendered peculiarly pleasant by the garden in its front, which is calculated to convey an idea of rural retirement.

The first organization of this admirable establishment, as

SURREY INSTITUTION

159

well as the completion of the system of laws by which it is governed, must be attributed to the following gentlemen, who formed its first committee :

The Right Hon. John Ansley, lord mayor.

Sir Walter Stirling, Bart. M.R, F.A.S.

Henry Thornton, Esq. M.P.

Robert Thornton, Esq. M.P., F.A.S.

James Brogden, Esq. M.P.

Josiah Boydell, Esq. alderman.

Thomas Rowcroft, Esq. alderman.

George Scholey, Esq. alderman.

William Domville, Esq. alderman.

Richard Phillips, Esq. sheriff.

Joseph Adams, M.D.

Dudley Adams, Esq.

Nathaniel Atcheson, Esq. F.A.S.

Robert Barclay, Esq.

Joseph Benwell, Esq.

John Rutlin, Esq.

James Gibson, Esq.

Thomas Hardy, Esq.

John Herdman, M.D.

Richard Herron, Esq.

Henry Hinckley, Esq.

John Hinckley, Esq. F.A.S.

William Janson, Esq.

Henry Laing, Esq.

John Coakly Lettsom, M.D., F.R.

and A.S.

Lewis Lloyd, Esq. John James Mackrill, Esq. William Preston, Esq. Richard Saumarez, Esq. Knight Spencer, Esq. Joseph Blakey Spencer, Esq. Thomas Skinner Surr, Esq. Henry Waymouth, Esq. Florence Young, Esq.

The subscription was closed on the 28th December, 1807.

The reading-rooms were opened for the proprietors on the ist of May, 1808. Lectures on chemistry, mineralogy, natural philosophy, and other subjects, were commenced by Mr. Accum and Mr. Jackson in the November following.

Dr. A. Clarke is appointed honorary librarian, and Knight Spencer, Esq. is secretary to this establishment.

The funds of the Institution arose from the payments made by the proprietors and subscribers. We shall add a slight sketch of the plan by which it is regulated.

1 60 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

All its affairs and concerns are directed and administered by a committee of managers ; consisting of a president, six vice- presidents, and twenty-four managers, elected by, and from among, the proprietors, of which one third annually vacate their office, and are ineligible to the same for the space of one year. A committee, consisting of the president and twelve visitors, not being managers, are elected by the proprietors, of which one third annually vacate their office. The visitors inspect every department of the Institution, and make reports either to the managers or court of proprietors, at their option. Any five of them have the power to convene a general court. Five auditors are also elected annually from among the proprietors, to examine the accounts of the Institution. The managers have the power to admit to the lectures, library, and other rooms of the Institution, foreigners of high rank, or of distinguished scientific attainments, during their temporary residence in the metropolis. Persons of distinguished rank or qualifications, literary and scientific, whether natives or foreigners, may be elected honorary members of the Institution.

In short, the SURREY INSTITUTION is an establishment which does great honour to those who "projected, arranged, and at present preside over and conduct it.

THE SYNAGOGUE

THE history of the Jews, the peculiarities of that extra- ordinary people, and their dispersion over the whole face of the earth, may be said to form the standing miracle of the world.

Amidst the revolutions and ruins of successive empires ; whilst every other branch of the human race has given way to, or been involved in, the changes and chances of time ; while all other nations have blended with each other, continually varying their customs and characters ; the Jews still retain their laws, institu- tions, and, as far as local circumstances will permit, many of the habits of their patriarchal ancestors. Notwithstanding the frequent bloody and destructive persecutions which they have successively suffered, some of which were so unsparing, as to threaten them with annihilation ; though they have continually had to encounter the outrage and extreme hatred, as it were, of all human kind, they have still continued to exist ; and, more or less, even in their outcast state, to prosper and to flourish.

To give the slightest sketch of this wonderful people, with those historical deductions necessary to its illustration, is not within the capacity of those pages which are allotted to this subject ; we shall therefore confine ourselves to such notices as are connected with their establishment in England, and their present state and condition in other countries.

III. — M

1 62 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

We know little of the Jews in England until the reign of King John, who confiscated all their effects, and ordered them to leave the kingdom. They were accused of cruelties, which, if true, very fully justified the severity exercised against them. The ancient records seem to confirm the justice of their banishment. It appears that in London, as well as at Norwich and Lincoln, many of them were tried and condemned upon these accusations, and punished accordingly. Some of them, however, allured by the prospect of gain, ventured to remain in England ; but, in the year 1291, they were all expelled the kingdom.

Cromwell, with his usual policy, very naturally endeavoured to regain some of the industry and wealth of the Jews : when he saw the advantages which were derived from these active and com- mercial people in other countries, he was anxious to recal them to his own ; but the spirit of the nation at large, quickened, as it may be supposed to have been at that time, by the puritanical prejudice which prevailed, manifested such a violent antipathy to them, that he relinquished his intentions.

During the reign of Charles II. the Jews began to resettle in England ; and the spirit of toleration has from that time gradually disclosed itself towards this persecuted race, so that there is no longer any invidious distinctions made by the liberal spirit which now prevails, between the moral character of a Jew and those of any other religious denomination. Nor indeed is it suited to the policy of a country which owes its prosperity, in a great measure, to commerce, that the Jews should be refused tranquillity and protection. They were our original bankers and principal merchants ; almost every kind of commercial negociation was, more or less, conducted by them : they were the remitters of money, and bills of exchange were of their invention.

THE SYNAGOGUE 163

The British islands, during the last century, have afforded the Jews an hospitable reception. They are allowed the free exercise of their religion, the uncontrouled pursuit of their respective trades and occupations, and the peaceable enjoyment of their properties. The British laws extend their protection to them in common with every British subject ; and they are only required, in return, to conform to the public duties and civil relations of that character. They are divided into two sects, and have each their respective synagogues, schools, chiefs, &c. &c.

Whether the ten tribes of Israel, who remained in the Persian empire after the emancipation of those of Judah and Benjamin under Ezra, are still existing in any distinct state, or so blended together as not to be distinguished from them, is a matter of great doubt and uncertainty. Some authors affirm, that they are in America; others that they are in China or the East Indies : but this is certain, that wherever property is to be obtained by com- mercial speculation, there the Jews are to be? found. In China they are very numerous, are allowed synagogues in all the principal cities, and have assumed the denomination of Israelites. But there, as in every part of the world where they sojourn, they possess a character distinct from the native inhabitants, and live in a state of inferior subjection to the respective governments.

It certainly redounds to the honour of Great Britain, that the first step which had ever been taken towards ameliorating the con- dition of this people, and admitting them to a participation of the civil rights of those countries with whom they are domesticated, originated in the British Parliament, in the year 1753. This measure consisted of the Jews' Naturalization Bill, which provided that all persons professing the Jewish religion, who had resided

1 64 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

in Great Britain or Ireland three years, might, upon application to Parliament for that purpose, be naturalized, without receiving the sacrament of the Lord's supper. This bill passed through both houses, and received the royal assent ; but the public clamour against this enlightened measure, was so great throughout the country, that the ministers of that period, who were not remark- able for firmness or vigour, yielded to the outcry, and in the following session the act was repealed. The genial influence, however, of the British constitution, has, since that time, ame- liorated their situation beyond all precedent ; and the large capitals which they employ in commerce, enable them to procure and enjoy a very large proportion of the advantages which would have been legally secured to them if the act for their naturalization had continued to be a part of our statute law. The Rev. Solomon Herschell, their high priest, has acknowledged, that " Britannia now cherishes and protects the Jews as her own children."

In considering the present state and condition of them in this country, we cannot with propriety pass over a new aera in the history of this remarkable people, which has been produced by the French revolution.

It has been observed by a late writer, that, during ages of un- relenting persecution, the Jews had lost many of those virtues which adorned their ancient character. Oppression had imprinted an air of meanness and servile timidity upon their demeanour. The undistinguishing contempt of men, who ought to treat them as their equals, had lessened their importance, as well as the fre- quency of respectable character amongst them. This degradation of character occasioned their being employed in usurious and other illegal transactions; and those practices kept alive the prejudices

THE SYNAGOGUE 165

of the magistrate. Thus they contracted the habits, as so many of them found it necessary to adopt the lives, of itinerant pedlars, who, never expecting to see the same customer twice, have nothing to apprehend from making an exorbitant gain on each single transaction. Synagogues, schools, &c. were so unwillingly allotted them, and their appearauce in Christian seminaries so shamefully resisted, that they were sunk into a degree of ignorance which increased, both to themselves and others, the difficulty of improving their condition.

This moral degeneracy has, however, been gradually decreasing for several years; and the decree of the French government in 1806, has already produced a considerable change in their manners and habits on the Continent, by placing them on an equality, with respect to civil rights, with people who profess the Catholic or any other religion. This measure may be naturally supposed to have originated in the interested policy of the govern- ment, but its beneficial effects on those oppressed people will be felt as long as that government exists in its present form. The professed object of this decree was, to suppress the prevalent disposition to usurious practices amongst the Jews, and to reani- mate them with a desire to engage in the useful and creditable professions of life, so as to render them more beneficial to the state which protected them. An assembly was accordingly con- vened in the same year, consisting of seventy-four persons of the Jewish religion, residing in different parts of France, who were most particularly distinguished for their probity and mental endowments. Many questions were proposed to them respecting their moral habits and interpretations of the laws of Moses, as they differed from the policy and manners of modern times ; and they

166 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

were generally answered in a way to favour the French govern- ment. In return, the Jewish deputies were promised the enjoy- ment of all the privileges of French citizens. But in order to render this decision more solemn and impressive, a grand Sanhedrim was convened with much pomp and ostentation, whose first meeting was held on the Qth of February, 1807. It consisted of the most respectable and eminent literary characters amongst the Jews from the greatest part of Europe ; and on the 2ist of the same month, a circumstance occurred which is unprecedented in former ages, and marks the tolerant spirit of modern times. The Archbishop of Paris, the President of the Protestant Consistory, and the President of the Jewish Sanhedrim, all dined together at the house of one of the French ministers, and exchanged civilities of peace and amity.

The deliberations and decisions of the Sanhedrim were devoted to the following subjects : — marriage, polygamy, divorce, useful professions, together with loans and usury; and the moral, civil, and political relations of man. In these respects the Mosaic law materially differs from the modern French code; and the object of Bonaparte was to assimilate the customs and ceremonies of the Jews to those of the Christians, in order that he might obtain that controul over them, mentally as well as politically, which would enable him to render them efficient members of society in the different departments of life. In return for the privileges which they received, the Sanhedrim recommended the Jews to conform in all respects to the French civil code, except that of acknow- ledging Jesus Christ to be the Messiah. But the most extra- ordinary and almost incredible part of this transaction, is the immediate effect of it ; which was nothing less than a very

THE SYNAGOGUE 167

prevalent opinion among the Jews residing beneath Bonaparte's sovereignty, that he is the promised Messiah. Nor is this strange notion confined either to the enthusiastic or ignorant among them; their learned men have encouraged it in their writings. They have laboured to prove, that their promised restoration is accom- plished, and that the repossession of Judea is a fallacious hope. They now assert, that the restoration of the Jews, means the restoration of their rights and privileges in society, in common with the rest of the human race.

This opinion, as it may be supposed, is industriously propagated through France and its dependencies; but whether it originated with a parasitical Israelite, or was commanded by the Jesuitical Talleyrand, is at present unknown. It is not believed, however, that the English Jews will readily accord to such a preposterous notion. " Their lot has fallen in pleasant places" and they are content.

The Jews have six Synagogues in London, the principal of which is that belonging to the German Jews in Duke's-place. It is a very handsome modern building, of the Ionic order, after a design of Mr. John Spitler, architect, of Guilford-street. The print which is annexed to this narrative, gives a very exact re- presentation of it. It was first erected in the year 1722, at the expence of Mr. Moses Hart ; but, in consequence of the increase of its congregation, was enlarged in the year 1765, at the expence of the community. Thus it remained to the year 1788, when it was thought advisable to pull it down, and supply its place with the present elegant and commodious structure. The expence was sustained by voluntary contributions, to which Mrs. Levy, the daughter of the original founder, Mr. Moses Hart, with that

168 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

bounteous piety which distinguished her character, subscribed the sum of four thousand pounds. It was completed, and consecrated with great ceremony, in the year 1790. The lord mayor and court of aldermen were specially invited to be present on the occasion, and many of that respectable body attended on a solemnity in honour of the common Father of all mankind, by whatever faith, name, or character they may be distinguished. On the exterior wall of this structure, is the following inscription :

On this spot of ground,

A. M. 5482,

Moses Hart,

late of Isleworth, in

the county of Middlesex, Esquire,

did, in his life-time, and

at his sole expence,

erect a Synagogue ;

which was afterwards taken down

and rebuilt, A. M. 5550;

towards which his only surviving daughter,

Mrs. Judy Levy,

of Albemarle-street,

widow of Elias Levy, Esquire,

voluntarily subscribed the sum of four thousand pounds.

This Synagogue is governed by three wardens, a treasurer, an overseer for the poor, and a community of seven gentlemen, annually chosen, together with the elders. The religious establish- ment consists of one chief rabbi, or high priest, and certain readers. The person who now fills that dignified office is the Rev. Solomon Herschell : nor would it be doing justice to his character, were we

THE SYNAGOGUE 169

not to mention him in the manner he so well deserves; as very much distinguished for talents and learning, for an enlarged mind and social virtues. This sanctuary is open twice every day for public service, and three times on the Sabbath and appointed festivals. There are two places of sepulture attached to it ; the one is at Mile-end, and the other is in Ducking- pond -lane, Whitechapel.

Of the other five Synagogues, one is in Church-row, Fenchurch- street, and is called the Hamburgh Synagogue. Another is in Leadenhall-street, and is denominated the New Synagogue ; and a third is in Denmark-court, in the Strand, and is distinguished by the name of the Westminster Synagogue. These are appropriated to the service of the German and Dutch Jews, and have various charitable institutions attached to them. There is one more in Camomile-street, which is called the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. This is the most ancient place of Jewish worship in the metropolis, having been erected in the reign of Charles II. This has also its charitable foundations. The Jews have likewise their places of religious worship in every principal commercial town in Great Britain.

We cannot quit this subject without taking particular notice of the Jews' hospital at Mile-end, which, for its objects, and the mode of its government, may claim a very respectable rank among the charitable institutions of a country which abounds in them. It was opened in the year 1807, f°r tne reception of aged persons, and the education as well as industrious employment of youth, of both sexes. The humane policy which first suggested this founda- tion has been followed by the most liberal encouragement ; and when we see in the list of those who subscribed to the original

1 70 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

and permanent fund for its first establishment, as well as in that of its numerous annual contributors, so many persons of the Christian religion, we feel an inexpressible satisfaction in con- templating this proof of the active prevalence of its genuine spirit, which teaches us to consider all mankind, however distinguished by their modes of faith, as our brethren — as the children of one universal Father.

TATTEKSALL'S KEPOSITOKY

THIS place, so well known, and so generally frequented, is situated near Hyde Park-corner. It was established, in the year 1773, by Mr. Richard Tattersall, the father of the present proprietor, for the reception, and sale by auction, of horses, carriages, coach-harness, hounds, &c. It is the grand mart for every thing connected with the sports of the field, the business of the turf, and equestrian recreations. The days of sale are every Monday and Thursday during the winter season, and on Mondays only in the summer. On the mornings when there is no sale, this Repository is a fashionable lounge for sporting gentlemen. The horses, &c. are then examined, their merits or defects considered, and sporting intelligence from all parts of the country detailed and disseminated.

These spacious premises contain accommodation for one hundred and twenty horses, a large number of carriages and coach-harness,

TATTERSALL'S REPOSITORY 171

as well as a commodious kennel for hounds. During the time that horses and dogs remain here for sale, which is usually but a few days, a moderate compensation is charged for their maintenance, and when sold, a small per centage ad valorem.

A room on the premises is appropriated for the use of sub- scribers, who pay one guinea per annum each. Here the generality of bets which relate to the turf are settled, at whatever place they may originate ; as it is not the custom, among these noblemen and gentlemen, to pay on the spot where the bets have been lost, but, on the return of the respective parties to town, at Tattersall's : so that this Repository is become a kind of exchange for gentlemen of the turf. Debts of this kind are settled here to an incredible amount.

A fashionable house of entertainment, well known by the name of the Turf Tavern, once formed a part of these premises ; but has been discontinued during the last fifteen years. The dining- room, though not large, is uncommonly elegant, and was fitted up at a very great expence ; the ceiling alone, which is adorned with allegorical paintings, cost eight hundred guineas. The sides of the room are enriched also with paintings and sculpture, with the addition of many detached pictures of horses, which were famous in their day for their exploits on the turf.

The aggregate annual value of the horses and other property, which are sold by auction at this Repository, is very considerable. The average number of horses which pass under the hammer weekly throughout the year, being about one hundred. They consist chiefly of saddle-horses, coach-horses, hunters, and race- horses. The value of saddle-horses, warranted sound, without fault or blemish, extends from forty to two hundred guineas ; a

1 72 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

good pair of coach-horses, from one hundred and fifty to four hundred guineas ; excellent hunters average about three hundred and fifty pounds, and race-horses about fifteen hundred. One of the most celebrated horses on the turf in his time, well known by the name of High-flyer, was purchased by Mr. Richard Tattersall, the founder of this establishment, for two thousand five hundred guineas.

Cart and agricultural horses are seldom offered for sale at this place, as the purchasers who attend here, are devoted rather to the pursuit of pleasure than of business.

This Repository has ever possessed an acknowledged pre- eminence over every establishment of a similar character, and may be justly considered as of much public utility. It greatly facilitates the business of buying and selling horses, &c. and attracts both parties to meet each other in the market ; while the liberal dealings of the late and present proprietors have entitled them to receive that patronage which they have so long experienced.

The plate represents, as we trust, to the life, the appearance of the Repository at the time of sale.

THE TEMPLE

THIS place, with its various ranges of buildings, occupies a very extensive situation, that stretches, north and south, from Fleet-street to the Thames ; and, east and west, from Lombard-street, Whitefriars, to Essex-street, in the Strand.

The name it bears originates in its having been the residence of an order of men called the Knights Templars, who settled here in the reign of King Stephen. They may be truly said to have been members of the Christian church militant, as, in their profession, devotion and military heroism were united. Several of the Crusaders having settled at Jerusalem about the year 1115, formed themselves into a regular militia, under the name of Templars, or Knights of the Temple, which they assumed from being appointed to the guardianship of a church, erected on the spot which was believed to have been the original site of Solomon's temple. Pope Honorius II. appointed them to wear a particular dress, which consisted of a white habit, with crosses of red cloth on the upper garment.

The profession of the Templars became at length so respectable, that men of the first families, in all parts of Europe, entered into it, as brethren of the order. They were afterwards so enriched by the favour of princes and other great men, that, at the time of their dissolution, they were possessed of incredible wealth. In

174 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

consequence of their vast riches, they became so infected with pride and luxury, as to become objects of general detestation. They were accordingly dissolved by Pope Clement V. at the instigation of Philip le Bel, of France. Many accusations were brought against them, but their enormous possessions appear to have formed their greatest crime.

When the Knights Templars settled in England, their first residence was in Holborn, which was called the Old Temple. In the year 1185, they founded the New Temple, where they con- tinued till the suppression of their order in 1310. Edward II. granted this house, and all their other possessions in London, to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster ; and, after his rebellion and forfeiture, to Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke. On the death of that nobleman they reverted to the crown, and were given to the Knights Hospitallers of the order of St. John of Jerusalem, who granted the Temple to the students of the common law in the reign of Edward III. ; and to their use it has, from that time, been uniformly applied.

It is now divided into two societies, called the Inner and Middle Temple, which bear the name, in common with the other law societies in London, of inns of court. These societies consist of benchers, treasurers, barristers, students, and members, with their inferior officers. The government is invested in the benchers, who are chosen for life from the senior barristers. During the term they dine in the respective halls, which is called keeping commons; and every student must have attended the commons during twelve terms before he can be called to the bar, and be thereby qualified to plead in the courts of law.

The church, which is represented in the plate, was founded by

TEMPLK CHURCH.

THE TEMPLE 175

the Templars in the reign of Henry II. upon the model of that of the Holy Sepulchre, and was consecrated in 1185 by Heraclius, Patriarch of Jerusalem. The entrance is through a door with a Norman arch. Within, the form is circular, supported by six round arches, each resting on four pillars, bound together by a facia. Above each arch is a window with a rounded top, a gallery, and rich Saxon arches intersecting each other. On the outside of the pillars is a considerable space, which preserves the circular form. On the lower part of the wall are small pilasters, meeting in pointed arches at the top, with a grotesque head over each pillar. This structure is forty-eight feet in height, its diameter on the floor fifty-one feet, and its circumference one hundred and sixty feet.

On the floor are two groupes of knights, represented in stone. In the first are four figures, all cross-legged ; three of them are in complete mail, with plain helmets flatted at top, and with very long shields. One of these figures has a very singular appearance, being bare-headed and bald ; his legs armed, his hands mailed, his mantle long, and with a cowl round his neck ; as if, according to a common superstition in former times, he had requested to be buried in the dress of a monk, as a preservative of the body against evil spirits. On his shield are three fleurs de lis. In this group is a stone coffin, of a ridged shape, which, according to antiquarian conjecture, was the tomb of William Plantagenet, fifth son of Henry III.

In the second group are other figures, but none of them cross- legged, except the outermost. They are all armed in mail, and their helmets much resemble the former. One of these figures is in the attitude of drawing a broad dagger : one leg rests on the

1 76 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

tail of a cockatrice, while the other is in the action of being drawn up, with the head of the monster beneath. One of the effigies represents Geoffrey de Magnaville ; but none of the others are ascertained, though Camden conjectures that they are intended to commemorate three successive earls of Pembroke. To these ancient monuments may be added that of a bishop, which is well executed in stone. The figure is represented in episcopal vest- ments, with the usual accompaniments of the mitre and the crosier.

Among the monuments of eminent persons of later days, is that of Plowden, a lawyer of most distinguished learning, superior talents, and renowned integrity. It is a recumbent figure, and in the professional habit. He was treasurer of the Middle Temple in the year 1572. Here also are interred the remains of the learned Selden, who was more profoundly skilled in the constitu- tion of his country, and the various branches of antiquity, than any one of the period in which he lived.

To this church is annexed a large choir, evidently built at a subsequent period, and is the part now appropriated to public worship. It is lighted by narrow Gothic windows, and is divided from the more ancient structure by a screen of wainscot, with decorations borrowed, in a very false taste, from Grecian architec- ture. The gallery, which rises above it, is supported by Corinthian columns, and contains an organ which is said to be one of the finest instruments in the world. This part of the structure is eighty-three feet in length, sixty feet in breadth, and thirty-four feet in height. It serves for both societies of the Temple, and is fitted up for their distinct reception. Since the reign of Henry VIII. the superior clergyman of this church is called the Master of the

THE TEMPLE 177

Temple, and is constituted such by the king's letters patent, without institution or induction.

The Inner Temple hall is a spacious room, decorated with emblematical paintings by Sir James Thornhill. It contains also two full-length portraits of those pillars of law, Lyttleton, and his able commentator, Coke. The former died in 1481, and the latter in 1634. The Origines Judiciales afford some very curious and entertaining descriptions of the revels and hospitable christmassings of former times, which were given in this hall.

In the Parliament chamber are painted the arms of the successive treasurers, from the first who possessed that office. This apartment is also adorned with some fine carving by Gibbons. The adjoining library is well furnished with books, but particularly in the science professed by those who have access to it.

The Inner Temple garden is spacious, and forms an handsome lawn, agreeably planted with trees. The view from its terrace, both up and down the river, possesses an unrivalled variety of beautiful and magnificent objects. Shakspeare, but whether from tradition or history, is not clearly ascertained, represents this garden as the place where the badges of the red and white rose originated, under which the partizans of the houses of York and Lancaster ranged themselves, in that fatal quarrel which caused such torrents of English blood to flow.

" The brawl to-day,

" Grown to this faction in the Temple garden, " Shall send, between the red rose and the white, " A thousand souls to death and deadly night."

The Middle Temple hall is a very noble room, and of a most

III. — N

178 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

venerable appearance. Along its sides are painted the coats of arms of the readers from the year 1597 to 1790. It was originally built in the reign of Edward III.; but the present edifice was erected in that of Queen Elizabeth, and while Plowden was treasurer of the society.

In the Treasury chamber of the Middle Temple is preserved several specimens of armour, which belonged to the Knights Templars. They consist of helmets, breast and back pieces, an halbert, and two very beautiful shields, with iron spikes in their centers, of six inches in length : the weight of each is about twenty pounds. They are curiously engraved ; and one of them is richly inlaid with gold ; they are lined with stuffed leather, and the edges are ornamented with silk fringe : broad leathern belts are also fixed to them, for the bearers to sling them on their shoulders.

In Garden-court, and overlooking a small shady garden which falls down to the river, is the Middle Temple library. It was bequeathed to the society by the will of Robert Astley, Esq. one of its benchers, in the year 1641. It consists of about nine thousand volumes. The catalogue was published in 1734, and was continued from that date to 1 766.

There are two entrances from Fleet-street, one to the Inner, and the other to the Middle Temple. The latter is an handsome gateway, in the style of Inigo Jones, erected in the year 1684. It is of brick, enriched by four pilasters of the Ionic order, sup- porting a pediment.

179

THE TOWEK OF LONDON

THIS fortress forms a very conspicuous object in the domestic history of England, for many centuries after the Norman conquest. That part of it called the white tower was begun by William the Conqueror in the year 1070, as a place of security, while he was settling the government of his new kingdom. That this was its object may reasonably be conjectured from its particular position, communicating with the river Thames, by which it might be supplied, in case of need, with military stores, provisions, and every necessary succour. That monarch, however, did not live to complete this design ; which was undertaken by his son and successor, William Rufus, who surrounded it with walls, and strengthened it with a deep and broad ditch. Such appears to be the real origin of the Tower of London. The notion that it was built by Julius Caesar proceeds from an idle and ridiculous tradition. It is supposed to have been built, or at least completed, under the direction of Gundolph, Bishop of Rochester, the architect of that superb castle, whose ruins, at this great distance of time, may be said to dignify that ancient city.

In the year 1092, this structure received such material injury from the violence of a resistless storm, that it required very extensive reparations, which were begun by William Rufus, and

i8o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

completed by Henry I. New walls were then built around it, and bastions were raised on the shore of the Thames, with the Traitor's or Bloody gate, through which state prisoners were conveyed to their confinement, when this place was appointed to be their prison. Baker, in his Chronicle, states that, in the reign of Richard I. the chancellor, William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, surrounded the Tower with a wall of stone, and formed the ditch. Mathew Paris mentions, that Henry III. added the gate and bulwark, with other buildings, to the west entrance. He also extended the outworks, by a mud wall on the west part of Tower-hill towards the city ; to the great dissatisfaction of the citizens, who claimed a right to that spot. The same monarch also repaired and whitened the large square tower ; and it was probably on this occasion that it first assumed the name of the white tower. In the same reign, the royal menagerie was established. In the ninth year of Edward II. the mayor and commonalty of London were compelled to pay a mulct for throwing down the wall of earth which Henry III. had caused to be erected. Edward IV. however, to curb all similar insults, built a wall of brick, and considerably strengthened the fortress, encroaching still further on the territory of the city. Richard III. with that despotic activity which marked his character, ordered the surveyor of the royal works to seize as many masons, brick- layers, and other workmen, as were necessary for the king's works in the Tower. The subsequent alterations by Henry VIII. Edward VI. Elizabeth, and their successors, do not merit particular notice ; except the rebuilding of the wharf with brick and stone, and the forming sluices for admitting and retaining the water of the Thames, as occasion might require, in the ditch.

THE TOWER OF LONDON 181

The new armory was also begun in the reign of James II. and was finished by William III.

The Tower was occasionally occupied as a royal palace, from its original foundation, to the reign of Elizabeth. During the protracted period of the civil wars, and in the reigns of the more feeble princes, it was considered as a place of security and defence for the person of the monarch. From this consideration we may suppose, that, in the treaty of Runnemede, the barons insisted on the resignation of this fortress into their hands. On some occasions the Aula Regia was established here ; and the court of the Tower was as hostile to the citizens, from its arbitrary proceedings, as the arms of its garrison.

If we were to attempt an history of those unfortunate persons who found a prison here, who suffered death within its walls, or were conducted to the scaffold without them, we should find ourselves called upon to describe the virtues and the vices which embellished or stained the English annals during the reigns of thirty-two of our sovereigns. A very brief account of them is all we can pretend to offer.

The first person who suffered by the axe in this fortress, was Sir Simon de Burley, Knight of the Garter, and the tutor of Richard II. In 1383, this accomplished gentleman fell a victim to a powerful faction, who had usurped the regal authority, and exercised it with that tyranny which too often waits upon usurpation.

Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel, fell a sacrifice to his dis- tinguished qualities and popular virtues, in 1397.

In 1483, the accomplished Lord Hastings was suddenly beheaded on the green before the chapel, by the impetuous order of the

1 82 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

brutal and ambitious protector, the Duke of Gloucester, for his avowed fidelity to the children of his late royal master, Edward IV.

Anna Bullein here fell a victim to the beastly lusts of the tyrant, Henry VIII. who to gratify them had raised her to the throne, and to indulge them with a new object, condemned her to the scaffold. When this lovely and accomplished woman reached the Tower, she wrote that affecting letter, which all who have read, have felt and admired, to her royal husband : but she wrote in vain, for she addressed an heart that was equally a stranger to justice and to mercy. After insisting on her innocence with an angelic confidence, she tells him, " You raised me from a private station to be a lady ; from a lady you made me a countess ; from a countess you raised me to be a queen ; and from a queen I shall shortly become a saint." Kingston, the keeper of the Tower, whose account of her confinement and execution is recorded, declared, that he had seen many men and women executed, but never did he behold any one suffer whose fortitude was equal to hers. She was beheaded on the iQth of May, 1536. Many crowned heads had been put to death in England, but this was the first royal execution accompanied with the forms of a regular proceeding.

That most excellent prelate, Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, was the next object of Henry's revenge. He fell a victim to his opinion in favour of the pope's supremacy. He suffered June 22, 1535 : and was soon followed by that great and good man, Sir Thomas More. On the 6th of July, in the same year, he was led to execution, in the same place and for the same offence, and died with that mild dignity and complacent spirit which had distinguished his venerable life.

THE TOWER OF LONDON 183

Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, who, from the lowest origin, had become a royal favourite, was attainted of high treason by act of Parliament, without being suffered to speak in his defence, and was beheaded on Tower-hill, July 28, 1540.

Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, the grand-daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, brother of Edward IV. and the last of the Plantagenets, was attainted of high treason on the most frivolous pretences ; and, after two years confinement, was sentenced to die. She refused to lay her head on the block : " So should traitors do," she said, " but I am none ; and if you must have my head, you may get it as you can." In this state of actual resistance, she was massacred, May 27, 1541.

Henry next ordered to the scaffold his fifth wife, Catharine Howard, niece of the Duke of Norfolk. She was charged with incontinence previous to her marriage, for no attempt was made to prove her infidelity to the king ; and that being too easily proved, she suffered February 13, 1542.

The turbulent Thomas Seymour, Baron Sudley and Lord High Admiral, was beheaded on Tower-hill, March 20, 1549, by a warrant from his own brother, the Protector Somerset. On January 24, 1552, the protector himself mounted the scaffold in the same place : and there, in the following year, his ambitious rival, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, lost his head.

Lady Jane Grey, and her husband, Lord Guilford Dudley, the son of the Duke of Northumberland, by whose ambition they were both brought to their fatal and unmerited end, must be added to the sanguinary list of cruel executions. She was the most accomplished woman of her own age, and would have received the same title in any age. She was mistress of the

1 84 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Greek and Latin tongues, spoke familiarly the French and Italian languages, and was versed in the Hebrew, Chaldee, and Arabic. She was also skilled in music ; and the toilettes worked with her own hand, and which are reverentially preserved at Zurich, prove the excellence of her needle- work. Her letters to Bullinger, the learned Swiss theologian, which are preserved in the library of that city, are exquisitely written. Her attain- ments are almost incredible ; for, at the age of seventeen years, after having occupied the same apartment in the Tower as Anna Bullein, she suffered on the same spot, with an invincible fortitude, January 12, 1553. As she was conducted to her end, she met the headless, bleeding body of her beloved husband, who had been just beheaded. She consoled herself, on the trying occasion, by repeating a line in Greek, to the following purport : " That if his lifeless body should give testimony against her before men, his blessed spirit would be an eternal witness of her innocence before God."

Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, was also given up to the block by his reluctant mistress, Queen Elizabeth, and suffered February 25, 1561. Here also, July 16, 1685, the Duke of Monmouth paid the forfeit of his misguided ambition.

The latest executions on Tower-hill, were those of the un- daunted Lord Balmerino, who vaunted the justice of his cause to the last moment of his life ; and the repentant Lord Kilmarnock, who were beheaded on the same scaffold, August 1 6, 1746. On the gih of the same month, in the following year, Simon, Lord Lovat, received the stroke of the axe, and closed the career of executions in this place.

The Tower of London, however, has not only been the

THE TOWER OF LONDON 185

theatre of the public executioner, but the fatal scene of private murder.

Henry VI. died within these walls by the assassinating sword of the Duke of Gloucester. Here, also, the life of the Duke of Clarence was closed by the hands of hired ruffians ; and here Edward V. and his brother, the Duke of York, completed, by their deaths, the catalogue of those foul and deadly deeds, which paved the way for the gratification of their cruel uncle's ambition. The death of Sir Thomas Overbury, by poison, closes the account of these murders, which, in the language of the poet, have brought a lasting shame on this fortress.

The Tower is situated on the north bank of the river Thames, at the eastern extremity of London. It contains within its walls twelve acres and five roods. The exterior circuit of the surround- ing ditch, is three thousand one hundred and thirty-six feet. On the Tower-hill side the ditch has considerable breadth and depth ; and here the view was taken which illustrates this description. A spacious wharf extends along the bank of the river, and contains a platform of sixty-one pieces of ordnance, nine-pounders, which are fired on all state holidays, as well as to announce to the metro- polis those events which signalize the glory and prosperity of the country.

The principal entrance is by three gates to the west. The first of them opens to a court, on the right side of which is the lions' tower, where the wild beasts are kept. The second gate opens to a stone bridge, which crosses the ditch. The third then succeeds, which has a portcullis : here there is a regular guard. Within the latter is a drawbridge, communicating with the wharf.

The fortress contains various buildings, the principal of which

1 86 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

are, the church, the white tower, the ordnance, jewel and record offices, the mint, the grand storehouse, the horse and other armories, houses belonging to officers in the different departments, barracks, &c. &c.

The church is a plain Gothic building, remarkable for having been the burial-place of many illustrious and noble persons, who suffered within these walls or on the adjacent hill. A small stone also distinguishes the grave of Talbot Edwards, who was keeper of the regalia when the notorious Blood made the daring attempt to steal the crown and other regal ornaments. He died September 10, 1674.

The white tower is a large, square, irregular building, in a central position of the space contained within the walls, It has watch-turrets at each corner, but they are not of the same size ; nor is it, as it at first sight appears to be, an equilateral structure. It consists of three very lofty stories, whose chambers serve as depositories for arms and military implements. There is also an ancient chapel, which served as a place of devotion to many of our more early princes ; but is now employed for the purposes of the record-office. Beneath are large vaults, used as store- cellars for saltpetre.

To the south of the white tower is the modelling-room ; in which is contained a very^beautiful model of the rock of Gibraltar, its fortifications, &c.

The office of ordnance, after its destruction by fire in 1789, was rebuilt on a plan of superior strength and accommodation. At the west end of this office, a new wing has been lately added. Adjoining it is an extensive brick building, on a large scale, appropriated to hold oils, cartridge paper, rope, pickaxes, and all

THE TOWER OF LONDON 187

war supplies of that denomination. At the west end of Tower- wharf, inclosed by a brick wall, is a complete factory, with a proof- house, for making small arms. It employs a sufficient number of workmen to complete a thousand stand per week.

The mint is a separate division, which comprehends near one third of the Tower, and contains houses for the different officers belonging to the coinage. This important manufactory is about to be removed to a spacious edifice now erecting for that purpose in the vicinity of the Tower.

The record-office is distinguished by a sculptured stone door- case at its entrance. All the rolls from King John to the begin- ning of the reign of Richard III. are deposited in fifty-six presses in this office: since the latter period they have been kept at the Rolls in Chancery-lane. The privilege of examining these ancient papers is to be obtained on payment of half-a-guinea, and may be continued on any distinct subject for one year.

The grand storehouse is a magnificent building, to the north of the white tower. It is three hundred and forty-five feet in length, and sixty in breadth. It was begun by James II. and finished by King William. The center of the north front is decorated with columns, supporting a triangular pediment, beneath which are the royal arms, with enrichments of trophy work, by Gibbons : they display all the spirit of his sculpture. The upper story, which occupies the whole length of the building, is called the small armory, and contains arms for upwards of one hundred thousand men, disposed in a great variety of curious forms and devices, which produce a very striking effect, and display a very pleasing show. The ground floor is of equal dimensions, and forms a depot for the royal train of artillery. It contains, also, many

1 88 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

pieces of ordnance, which, for their singular invention, their powerful effects, or historical circumstance, are no common objects of curiosity or interest.

The jewel-office is a dark, strong stone room, within a few yards to the east of the grand storehouse. This place is the repository of the imperial crown and the regalia of the sovereign.

In the Spanish armory are preserved the trophies of the ever memorable victory obtained over the Spanish armada, which added so bright a ray of glory to the splendid reign of Queen Elizabeth.

The horse-armory contains, among other appropriate articles of curiosity, the effigies of the kings of England, clad in armour and on horseback, inclusively from William the Conqueror to his late Majesty George II. They are as large as life, and some of them appear in the suits of armour which those sovereigns actually wore. This room presents a very striking spectacle ; and the plate which accompanies this page, displays, we presume, a very picturesque, as well as correct representation of it.

The king's menagerie is kept in the lions' tower, which has been already mentioned. It consists of a range of dens in the form of a crescent. They are twelve feet in height, and are divided into three parts ; the larger one above, and two smaller ones below. The beast occupies the uppermost in the day, and a lower one at night. The animals are viewed through large iron grates, so that they may be seen with perfect security.

The government and care of the Tower is committed to an officer who bears the title of constable. It is a post of high dis- tinction, and generally bestowed on persons of the first rank. At coronations and all other state ceremonies, the crown and the

THE TOWER OF LONDON 1*9

other regalia are entrusted to his custody. He also swears the lord mayor into his office, in great formality, whenever a chief magistrate is elected, on the death of his predecessor, during the law vacations, when the court of Exchequer is not sitting. This ceremony has not been performed since the year 1754, when Thomas Rawlinson, Esq. and Alderman, was invested with the first civic dignity by Earl Cornwallis, father of the late marquis, then constable of the Tower.

The other officers are, a lieutenant-governor, a deputy-lieu- tenant, commonly called governor, a Tower major, a gentleman porter, yeoman porter, gentleman gaoler, four quarter-gunners, and forty warders, &c. The latter wear the same uniform as the king's yeomen of the guard. There is generally a battalion of the guards on duty in the Tower, which is quartered in the barracks, and is annually relieved.

The present officers of this fortress are,

General Earl of Moira, constable and chief governor. General Charles Vernon, lieutenant-governor. Colonel John Yorke, deputy-lieutenant. Colonel Mathew Smith, major. Rev. William Coxe, M.A. chaplain.

Vernon, Esq. gentleman porter.

Mr. Joseph Turtle, gentleman gaoler. &c. £c. &c.

190

THE BOAKD OF TKADE

THE commerce of the British empire has attained an height unknown in the history of nations, and London may be considered as the emporium of the world.

It was during the reign of Edward III. that the sun of commerce began to enlighten the British horizon. Numerous parliamentary regulations were then adopted concerning artificers and labourers : ingenious foreigners were invited to England, for the purpose of instructing the natives in the useful arts : statutes were enacted, to regulate the woollen trade : whilst the tumults of the manufacturers in Flanders compelled them to seek protection in this country ; and it need not be added, that they brought their skill, ingenuity, and industry along with them. " From this epocha," says Mr. Chalmers, in his valuable work on the strength of Great Britain, " manufactures frequently became the objects of legislation ; while the spirit of industry advanced the state of population, and considerably augmented the opulence of all ranks of people."

The principle of our boasted act of Navigation was also intro- duced into the legislation of this country, as early as the year 1381, by a law which declared, " that none of the king's subjects shall carry forth, or bring in, merchandizes, but only in ships of the king's allegiance." The fisheries began to be encouraged, and agricul-

THE BOARD OF TRADE 19'

ture to be promoted : but we believe it was not till the reign of Henry VIII. that a statute passed for the inclosure of land ; and, previous to that period, England did not produce potatoes, cabbages, carrots, turnips, or many of the fruits which now abound in our gardens, and add to the luxury of our tables.

A new impulse was given to the growing commercial spirit of the English nation, by the well-weighed and active policy of Elizabeth and her ministers. With this view she chartered several trading companies, and granted them those privileges which encouraged them to engage in traffic with the more distant parts of the world. Thus were our commercial energies strengthened ; new wants were created, a taste for superfluities excited, consumption augmented, industry and ingenuity en- couraged, and an active spirit of competition excited. Thus, by the enlightened views of this wise princess, the superstructure was raised of that temple of British commerce, where the four quarters of the globe may be now said to make their constant offerings.

The pacific reign of James I. gave additional vigour to the industry of the people ; and laws were enacted, which produced the most beneficial effects on the national commerce, both at home and abroad. Some of the monopolies were wisely suppressed ; the spirit of competition was thereby enlarged : ship-building was particularly encouraged, and various regulations were framed for the protection and encouragement of trade.

The several manufactures and new productions of husbandry which were introduced from foreign countries previous to the Revolution, not only formed a new epoch, but proved a vigorous application of the useful arts in the intermediate period. The improvement of the public roads and of internal navigation, was

192 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

attended by very beneficial effects. Foreign trade was, at the same time, increased, by opening new markets, as well as by with- drawing the alien laws, which had ever obstructed the sale of native manufactures. The higher and middle ranks of life were now frequently united by marriage, while the younger sons of the nobility and gentry were occasionally bound apprentices to merchants ; and thus, as it were, ennobled commerce.

During the hostilities which prevailed for the period of eight years subsequent to the Revolution, the advantages of our foreign commerce considerably abated; and in the year 1697, we first observe the effects of a Board of Trade, which made a report to the House of Commons in the month of December of that year, of which we give the following appropriate extract: — " We " have made enquiry into the state of trade in general, from the "year 1670 to the present time; and, from the best calculations " we could make, by the duties paid at the customhouse, we are "of opinion that trade in general did considerably increase from "the end of the Dutch war in 1675 to 1689, when the late war "began." But, by way of counterbalance to this temporary depression of our foreign trade, the internal manufactures were greatly improved. In 1689, those of copper and brass began to make themselves known. Ingenious foreigners improved many of our articles in cutlery, particularly sword-blades. The French refugees, also, who were driven from their country by the revoca- tion of the edict of Nantes, meliorated the fabrics of paper and silk. And, lastly, the establishment of the Bank of England, in 1 694, by facilitating public and private circulation, produced all the salutary effects which might be expected from such a grand, national institution.

THE BOARD OF TRADE 193

But the diminution of our foreign trade during this period was neither very great nor very lasting. " The commerce of England," as Mr. Chalmers most happily expresses himself, " which is sustained by immense capitals, suggested by a compre- hensive sagacity, and conducted with skill and activity, may be aptly compared to a spring of mighty powers, which always exerts its force in proportion to the weight of its compression, and never fails to rebound with augmented energy when the pressure is removed, from whatever cause it may have proceeded."

The union with Scotland gave fresh vigour to our commercial system. Admitted to all the advantages possessed by the English, the North Britons did not long delay to start in the field of competition.

The annual amount of exports during the reign of Queen Anne, increased from about five to seven millions ; a considerable augmentation during the short period of twelve years, and amidst an almost incessant warfare.

The reign of George I. was not distinguished by any consider- able increase in our foreign trade : but domestic improvement was very visible in our manufactures ; and several very useful laws were added to the commercial code.

During the first ten years of the reign of George II. our ex- ports had increased from about eight to nearly ten millions. The nine years war which succeeded this period, and terminated in 1748, seems to have had but little effect, either one way or the other, on our commercial interests. During the few years of peace which followed, both foreign and domestic trade continued to increase. The annual exports advanced to twelve millions and an half. The war of 1756 certainly caused a temporary

III. — O

i94 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

depression of the commercial system ; but it soon recovered with augmented energy, and rose to an higher degree in the scale of public benefit, than it had ever attained.

The peace which followed the accession of his present Majesty, when the arms of Great Britain had been crowned with success in every part of the globe, produced commercial failures on the Continent of immense magnitude ; and had not the British merchants interposed with their large capitals and extensive credit, the whole mercantile Continent would have been bankrupt. Thus the commercial capital of Great Britain may be said to have supported and invigorated the whole world. Nor were the British merchants sufferers by the magnanimity of their conduct. The additional credit which they gave to their correspondents, enabled the latter to withstand the momentary shock, and in the end to discharge all their debts to the utmost ; while the money advanced with so much liberality, returned, in some channel or other, to the hands from which it proceeded. Such is the prin- ciple of, and such the advantages derived from, circulation, which is the soul of commerce. When circulation is impeded, scarcity of money, unfavourable discounts, unpurchased manufactures, unemployed artisans, unpaid rents, and unperformed contracts, are the mischiefs which naturally and necessarily follow ; while, from a free and copious circulation, the public revenue increases in a rapid ratio, and the comforts and conveniencies of life advance with an equal pace.

The public expenditure continually distributes an immense revenue among the creditors or servants of the state, who return it to the original contributors, either for the necessaries or the luxuries of life. The Exchequer, which constantly receives and

THE BOARD OF TRADE 195

dispenses this immense income, has been happily compared to the human heart, which necessarily carries on the vital circulation, so invigorating while it flows, so fatal when it stops. Hence it is, that taxes, though the subject of universal complaint, possess somewhat of a remedial nature, even in their profusion : for, as they are never hoarded, but always expended as soon as they are received, they tend to promote the employment and industry, as well as to reward the ingenuity, of a great part of those who pay them. Thus, by the invigorating effects of an augmented circulation, our agriculture and manufactures, our commerce and navigation, have gradually increased to their present magnitude, notwithstanding our frequent wars, additional taxes, and ac- cumulating debts.

The advanced state of the trade of Great Britain cannot be more clearly proved, than by giving a comparative view of the commercial state of England in the years 1700 and 1800.

1700. 1800.

The population of England and Wales . 6,000,000 9,000,000

Tonnage of shipping .... 300,000 2,000,000

Value of exports ^6,000,000 ^44,000,000

Balance of trade ..... ^1,400,000 ^14,000,000

Revenue ;£5>5oo,ooo ^"33,000,000

The whole quantity of gold and silver coined during the reign of

his present Majesty, is about ^65,000,000

The average annual quantity coined, about ;£i, 600,000

The whole coinage of Queen Anne's reign did not amount to . ^2,700,000

The Board of Trade was originally projected in the year 1668, but did not last more than three or four years ; as it appears to have been suppressed in 1673. It was, however, renewed in 1696, and continued to the year 1782, when it was abolished by

1 96 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

an act of Parliament, commonly distinguished by the name of Mr. Burke, who brought it into Parliament. The commissioners of this Board, who were called the Lords of Trade, were paid salaries of one thousand pounds per annum, and all the public business relative to trade and our colonial plantations, was sub- mitted to them. Parliament, however, was convinced, at the time, by Mr. Burke's arguments, that the services of this Board were of little utility, and that the business transacted by it might be distributed among other public offices : it was accordingly dissolved. Experience, however, proved the necessity of such an establishment ; the public service appeared evidently to require it; and the Board of Trade and Plantations was revived in 1786. It is similar in every respect to that which preceded it, except that the members of it perform all the duties without salary or emolument. The clerks and inferior officers are alone remuner- ated for their services.

The Board consists of a committee of the privy council, com- posed of all the great officers of state ; but, unless extraordinary occasions require an extraordinary attendance, the business is principally conducted by the president, deputy-president, and the chief clerks. It is, properly speaking, a board of reference, to which all difficult or doubtful cases relative to trade or our colonial possessions, exclusive of the East Indies, are referred. Memorials, which have been presented to the king in council, or to the lords of the Treasury, or other public boards, are usually laid before the Board of Trade, for a report thereon. When any ecclesiastical interests are concerned, the Bishop of London, whose diocese extends to all our colonial possessions, is requested to attend and deliver his opinion. Such is the case, also, when

THE BOARD OF TRADE

197

the experience of any other of the great officers of state is re- quired ; but they seldom attend at other times.

The apartments which are occupied by this Board, are in the northern part of the old building called the Treasury, in Whitehall. The room where they hold their sittings, and of which the plate gives a distinct representation, was formerly occupied as a bed- chamber by the ambitious and unfortunate Duke of Monmouth, and is part of the original palace which escaped the fire.

The Board of Council for Trade and Colonial Plantations, consists of the following officers of state and privy counsellors :

President, Earl Bathurst. Deputy-President, the Right Hon. George Rose.

The Lord Chancellor. The Archbishop of Canterbury. The First Lord of the Treasury. The First Lord of the Admiralty. The Principal Secretaries of State. The Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Speaker of the House of Commons. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lan- caster.

The Paymaster of the Forces. The Treasurer of the Navy.

The Master of the Mint.

The Master of the Rolls.

The Bishop of London.

Such Officers of State in Ireland as are

Privy Counsellors in England. Lord Glastonbury. Lord Whitworth. Earl of Clancarty. Lord Redesdale.

The Right Hon. Sir William Wynne. Sir William Scott.

Sir Stephen Cotterel.

Law Clerk, John Reeves, Esq.

John Porter, William Lock,

John Sowerby, John Barton,

SECRETARIES.

William Faulkener, Esq.

Chief Clerk, George Chalmers, Esq.

CLERKS.

Richard Penny, Robert Francis Suft, and John Sowerby, jun. Charles Noyes, Esquires.

198

TBINITY-HOUSE

THE society of the Trinity-House was founded in the year 1515, a period when the English navy had assumed a regular and systematic character, by Sir Thomas Spert, Knight, commander of the great ship Henry Grace de Dieu, and comptroller of the navy to Henry VIII. for the regulation of seamen, and the convenience of ships and mariners on our coast. They were afterwards incorporated by that monarch, who con- firmed to them, not only the ancient rights and privileges of the Company of Mariners of England, but their several possessions at Deptford ; which, together with the grants of Queen Elizabeth and King Charles II. were also confirmed by letters patent of the first James II. in the year 1685, by the name of The Master, Wardens, and Assistants of the Guild or Fraternity of the most glorious and undivided Trinity, and of Saint Clement, in the Parish of Deptford Strond, in the County of Kent.

This corporation is governed by a master, four wardens, eight assistants, and eighteen elder brethren ; but the inferior members of the fraternity, named younger brethren, are unlimited as to their number ; for every master or mate, expert in navigation, may be admitted as such ; and they serve as a continual nursery to supply the vacancies among the elder brethren, when removed by death or otherwise.

TRINITY-HOUSE 199

The master, wardens, assistants, and elder brethren, are in- vested, by charter, with the following powers.

The examination of the mathematical scholars of Christ Hospital, and the masters of his Majesty's ships of war. They appoint pilots to conduct ships in and out of the river Thames ; and have the power to amerce all such as shall presume to act as master or pilot of a ship of war without their permission. They settle the several rates of pilotage, and of erecting lighthouses, and other sea-marks, on the several coasts of the kingdom, for the security of naviga- tion. They can grant licences to poor seamen, not free of the city, to row on the river Thames for their support, in the intervals of sea service, or when rendered unfit to go to sea. They prevent foreigners from serving on board English ships, and can amerce them in a fine of five pounds for each offence. They have the power to punish seamen in the merchants' service for mutiny or desertion. They hear and determine the complaints of officers and seamen in the merchants' service, but subject to an appeal to the judge of the court of Admiralty. They have the sole manage- ment of clearing away the obstructions of the river Thames ; for which purpose they employ near three hundred men, with a pro- portionate number of lighters, in raising shingle ballast from the shoals and obstructed parts of the bed of the river, which is sold for the purpose of ballasting shipping. They are the proprietors, and have the charge and management, of all the lighthouses, floating lights, buoys, and beacons, and their appendages, on the coast of the Channel, from Berwick-upon-Tweed to their last erected lighthouse on the Stack Rock, near Holyhead, for the safety of navigation ; which extensive apparatus is maintained at a great expence, and paid by a Light duty.

200 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Their opinion is referred to in all maritime disputes ; and in trials at law which relate to shipping, two of the wardens are generally required to attend the judge on the bench, to instruct him in such matters as may be necessary for elucidating the circumstances connected with the matter in issue before him. They afford also the same assistance to the judge of the High Court of Admiralty, in prize causes which are brought for deter- mination in that tribunal.

Such are the comprehensive powers possessed by this most useful, honourable, and ancient corporation. They have also another privilege, productive of very extensive benefits ; and that is, to purchase lands, and receive charitable donations : by which means they are enabled to relieve annually some thousands of poor seamen, their widows and orphans.

There are two hospitals at Deptford and one at Mile-end, which belong to the Trinity- House. They form very comfortable habita- tions, where the reduced or worn-out captains in the merchants' service may be safe moored for life, with a liberal provision attached to them.

They have also an out-door charity for superannuated and disabled seamen in the merchants' service, which is paid the first Monday in every other month, according to the following regulation :

Younger brethren, captains, and pilots, six shillings per month.

Mates, four shillings and sixpence.

Boatswains, gunners, and carpenters, four shillings.

Petty officers, three shillings and sixpence.

Seamen, three shillings.

The Mother- House, as it is called, is at Deptford, and by that

TBINIT Y-HOUSE 20 1

the corporation is designated ; but the house where they transacted business was in Water-lane, near the customhouse. Maitland mentions, that among the curiosities preserved in the hall of that building, was a flag taken from the Spaniards by Sir Francis Drake ; and, among other portraits, that of Sir John Leake, the greatest naval commander of his day, and engaged in the most important actions during the reigns of King William and Queen Anne. This house was by no means adequate to the character and consequence of the corporation to whose use it was appro- priated ; a new building has accordingly been erected on the upper part of Great Tower-hill, for their service. The first stone was laid on the I2th day of September, 1793, by the Right Hon. William Pitt, then master, attended by the architect, Samuel Wyatt, Esq.

The new Trinity- House is a very handsome edifice, fronted with stone. It is enriched with columns and pilasters of the Ionic order, and its appropriate decorations : to these are added various suitable ornaments and devices, the whole forming an elegant and attractive elevation. The court-room is a noble apartment ; and contains portraits of their present Majesties, James II. the Earls of Sandwich and Howe, and Mr. Pitt. The upper end is filled by a large picture, containing the portraits of the elder brethren, the gift of the merchant brethren in 1794- This fine room is represented with all possible accuracy in the plate which accompanies this account of it. The large space before the house is converted into a very pleasing square and garden, which afford an agreeable promenade to the neighbourhood.

2O2

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Master, vacant by the death of the Duke of Portland. Deputy, Captain Joseph Cotton.

ELDER BRETHREN.

Duke of Marlborough, K.G. Captain John Travers. Captain George Burton. Captain Anthony Calvert. Captain Thomas Brown. Captain Sir Robert Preston, Bart. Lord Barham. Captain Francis Easterby. Captain Giff. Lawson Reed. Captain Henry Hinde Pelly. Captain Thomas King. Captain James Strachan. Captain Joseph Huddart, F.R.S. Earl of Chatham, K.G. Lord Grenville.

Secretary,

Viscount Melville.

Viscount Hood.

Earl Spencer, K.G.

Captain Abel Chapman.

Captain John Sealy.

Captain Sir A. Snape Hammond, Bart.

Captain Sir W. Fraser, Bart. F.R.S.

Captain George Curtis.

Captain John Woolmore.

Earl of Camden, K.G.

Captain Richard Lewin.

Earl of St. Vincent, K.B.

Captain Jonathan Wilson.

Captain William Raven.

James Court, Esq.

VAUXHALL

THE precise time when this place was first opened as a scene of public amusement, has baffled the enquiries of those who have made it a subject of investigation. The earliest account which we have seen of Vauxhall, is in an old book, entitled The Humours of London, and published, to the best of our recollection, about the year 1690. This work abounds with low and obscene, but, at the same time, with comical and

VAUXHALL 203

humorous ribaldry. The place which we suppose to be Vauxhall, from the circumstances of the relation, for no name is annexed to it, is mentioned principally to introduce the scene of a jovial party there, of which I remember little more than that it cannot, with decency, be repeated. It is described, however, as possessing a rural character, and shaded with lofty trees. Malt liquor and ordinary eatables, with pipes and tobacco, seemed to be the regale of the place ; while the seats consisted of the bodies of old coaches, some of which were entire, and others deprived of their roofs and pannels, to suit the fancy of the company, or the varying state of the weather. The Spectator also furnishes some informa- tion respecting this place, in number 383 of its admirable papers, which bears the date of May 20, 1712. It describes the writer's visit to Vauxhall, in company with his friend, Sir Roger de Coverley. It may be proper to observe here, that, as there was no bridge at Westminster, Vauxhall was not attainable to the in- habitants of the western end of the metropolis but by water. Those who preferred going thither in carriages, had no alternative but London-bridge and Lambeth-ferry. After a pleasant and humorous account of their passage from the Temple-stairs to Vauxhall, the Spectator adds, "We were now arrived at Spring- garden, which is exquisitely pleasant at this time of the year. When I considered the fragrancy of the walks and bowers, with the choirs of birds which sung upon the trees, and the loose tribe of people that walked under their shades, I could not but look upon the place as a kind of terrestrial paradise." In another part he informs the reader, that they concluded their walk with a glass of Burton ale and a slice of hung beef. The traditionary account is, that the great number of nightingales and other singing birds

204 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

which frequented this shady spot, was the original cause of attrac- tion to the inhabitants of the metropolis ; and when the improve- ments which were afterwards made in it, had driven the nocturnal warblers to more sequestered groves, Mr. Tyers is well known to have hired persons to sit among the thick branches of the trees, who possessed the means of imitating the song of those birds : and we have heard it asserted, on very good authority, that some seasons actually passed away before the agreeable deception was discovered.

About the year 1730, Mr. Jonathan Tyers, the ancestor of the present proprietor, Mr. Barret, purchased this place, and opened it with an entertainment which he called a Ridotto al Fresco, which attracted a very numerous company. Some of the tickets of admission to this entertainment are in the possession of collectors, and represent a view of the grand walk in the gardens at that time. The orchestra was then an ordinary building, just sufficient to elevate the performers above the audience. The present singular, but very handsome structure, was first exhibited to the public on the 2d of June, 1735. It was built by an ingenious mechanic, named Maidman, a common carpenter employed in the gardens, from a design of his own. The composition with which it is ornamented, was also his own discovery. This elegant orchestra is calculated to contain fifty performers, with an organ, &c. It is illuminated with about four thousand lamps, and presents an object of unparalleled brilliance. In this appearance it is repre- sented in the plate. The same ingenious artisan erected the rotunda, which is seventy feet in diameter, and represents a magnificent pavilion. Within it is placed another orchestra, where the musical part of the entertainment is performed in unfavourable

GARB EH

VAUXHALL 205

weather. Opposite to the orchestra is a splendid saloon, enriched with scaliogla columns, and adorned with two whole-length portraits of their Majesties, and four large pictures, by Hayman, representing public events, redounding to the honour of the British nation, during the early part of the present reign, and while the immortal Chatham held the reins of government. The allegorical picture, in honour of the naval character of Great Britain, is one of the best productions of Hayman's pencil. The subject is poetically conceived, the whole well composed, and the engagement, in the back ground, intended to represent the then recent and last victory obtained by Sir Edward, afterwards Lord Hawke, over the French, is happily introduced, and painted with great spirit. Adjoining the rotunda is a supper-room, one hundred feet long and forty feet wide, with a double row of columns, that form the center of it. On the wall are represented paintings of rural scenery, which answer to the intercolumniations. At the end of this room was the statue of the immortal Handel, in white marble, and in the character of Orpheus singing to his lyre ; but is now removed behind the orchestra in the garden. This fine specimen of sculpture first introduced the abilities of Roubiliac to the notice of the public. It was begun and completed in the place of which it is the ornament, while the noble subject and the superior artist were enjoying the friendly and protecting hospitality of Mr. Jonathan Tyers. It is said to bear a strong resemblance to the great musician.

The grove, principal entrance, and other parts of the gardens, are furnished with a great number of small pavilions, ornamented with paintings, chiefly by Hogarth and Hayman ; each containing a table and seats, to which the company retire, at the conclusion

206 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

of the concert, to enjoy the refreshments prepared for them. Some of these pavilions are very elegant. That which is opposite the orchestra, and is called the Prince's pavilion, having been erected for the accommodation of Frederic, Prince of Wales, his present Majesty's father, is a very beautiful example of Palladian architecture. During the remainder of the evening, bands of wind-instruments, of different kinds, are placed in different parts of the gardens, which contribute to enliven the scene and invite the dance.

These gardens are opened for the season about the latter end of May, and continue their amusements for about three months. Company is admitted three nights in the week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The price of admission is three shillings and sixpence.

The concert commences about eight o'clock. The band is respectable and well selected ; many of the performers, both vocal and instrumental, being of the first professional reputation. The music also is chosen with great taste and judgment, and in various, well-contrasted styles of composition.

At the end of the first act of the grand concert, which is usually about ten o'clock, a bell is rung by way of signal for the exhibition of a beautifully illuminated scene, called the cascade. A dark curtain is then drawn up, which discloses a very natural view of a bridge, a water-mill, and a cascade : a noise similar to the roaring of water, is also well imitated ; while coaches, waggons, soldiers, and other figures, are exhibited crossing the bridge with the greatest regularity. This agreeable piece of scenery continues about ten minutes.

When the grand concert is concluded, there is a brilliant

VAUXHALL 207

display of fire-works, which is exhibited at the end of one of the grand walks.

Vauxhall is a very fascinating place of amusement ; but its principal feature is the illumination. Thirty-seven thousand lamps, of various colours, sometimes lighted in these gardens, in the most tasteful forms and brilliant devices, with their associated transparencies, produce a splendour of decoration, unrivalled in any place of amusement in Europe. It is a curious circumstance, and proves the extraordinary change in our manners and habits, that, in a description of these gardens in 1760, the illumination at that time, proceeding only from fifteen hundred comparatively dim lamps, of the same kind, but of a smaller size, as those which now light our streets, is mentioned in as glowing terms as would suit the present extraordinary and accumulated brilliance of the gardens. Sixteen thousand persons have been admitted into them in the course of one evening.

Tradition has ascribed the name of this place to Guy Faux, who lived in a large mansion, called Faux Hall ; and as Dr. Ducarel, who wrote the history of Lambeth, imagines, was lord of the manor of the same name. The site is now occupied by Cumberland-gardens and the adjoining buildings. The opinion, however, seems to have arisen merely from the coincidence of names, as this manor is mentioned, in a record of the twentieth year of Edward I. under the denomination of Fawkes Hall. When the manor-house was pulled down, the name appears to have been transferred to one which stood nearly opposite ; for, in the survey taken by order of Parliament after the death of Charles I. the latter is called Vauxhall.

208

ST. STEPHEN WALBKOOK

THIS exquisite piece of architecture stands at a small distance from the south end of the Mansion- House, and on the east side of the street from which it receives its distinctive name. It appears, from ancient records, that a church, dedicated to the first Christian martyr, was situated near this spot, prior to the year 1135, when it was given to the monastery of St. John, in Colchester, by Eudo, sewer to Henry I. How long the patronage was possessed by this fraternity, and for what con- sideration they relinquished it, there is no satisfactory account. It appears, however, in 1428, to have belonged to John, Duke of Bedford ; in which year Robert Chicheley, mayor, gave a plot of ground on the east side of the water-course, which then flowed through that part of the city, being two hundred and eight feet and an half in length, and sixty-six in breadth, to the parish of St. Stephen, to build a new church thereon, as well as a church- yard for the burial of the dead. In the following year, that chief magistrate laid the first stone of the building for himself, and the second for William Stondon, a former mayor, deceased, who left money for the purchase of the ground, and to defray the expences of the building ; Robert Chicheley supplying the deficiency by his own pious generosity.

Robert Whittington, a draper of London, and afterwards

ST. STEPHEN WALBROOK 209

honoured with the order of the Bath, purchased the advowson of this rectory from the Duke of Bedford, in the year 1432. From him it passed into a family of the name of Lee ; two of whom, who are both named Richard, and consequently supposed to be father and son, the former being a knight and the latter an esquire, served the office of mayor in the years 1460 and 1469. The latter of these respectable citizens presented to this Church in the year 1474, and afterwards gave it to the company of grocers, in whom the patronage still remains.

The old Church being destroyed by the fire of London, the present structure was erected by Sir Christopher Wren ; and has been considered as among the first works of that illustrious archi- tect, in point of taste, harmony, proportion, elegance, and beauty.

It is built of stone, but its exterior form is enveloped by the surrounding houses, except the steeple, which rises above them. It is square to a considerable height, and is then surrounded by a balustrade, within which rises a very light and elegant tower, in two stages ; the first adorned with Corinthian, and the second with Composite columns : the termination is a dome, with a vane springing from it.

It is rather a small Church, being only seventy-five feet in length, and thirty-six feet broad, thirty-four feet in height to the roof, and fifty-eight to the lantern ; but its interior is unrivalled for elegance and graceful variety. Over the center rises a dome, which is divided into small compartments, tastefully enriched. The roof, which is also divided by similar decorations, is supported by Corinthian columns, raised on their pedestals, and so disposed as to possess an appearance of grandeur, which the confined dimensions of the structure do not promise. On the sides, under

in. — P

210 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

the lower roof, are circular windows ; but those which enlighten the upper roof are small arched ones. The general effect of this building is pleasing beyond expression; which, as a very judicious writer observes, is known and admired on the Continent as a masterpiece of art. The plate alone, to which the reader may turn, will justify the opinion. The baptismal font is of white marble, and curiously sculptured.

Above the altar, at the east end, is a large painting of the martyrdom of St. Stephen. This picture was presented to the Church by its rector, the Rev. Dr. Wilson, and put up in the month of September, 1776. An handsome organ was also placed at the west end, by the bounty of the same dignified person. And here we wish that his zeal for the decoration of his Church had paused for ever : but he afterwards added the statue of Mrs. Macaulay, the historian ; not as a sepulchral monument, to commemorate the dead, for to that no reasonable objection could have been made, but as a compliment to the living virtues which he believed her to possess ; for long before that lady quitted life, a marble representation of her found a conspicuous position in this Church. Dr. Wilson's doting attachment to this well-known character, was a subject of much curiosity and ridicule, and we believe of some pity, at the time, and formed an item in the bustling politics of that period. The reverend dignitary was a zealous, and as he possessed a considerable private fortune, as well as large church preferment, a very useful, partizan of Mr. John Wilkes, at the time when that gentleman had raised himself into importance, from the indecisive temper of the administration which he opposed. The political divine was also a most devoted admirer of Mrs. Macaulay 's literary talents and virtues : but as

ST. STEPHEN WALBROOK 211

her writings were composed to defend republicanism, and conse- quently to decry kingly government, and as her private principles savoured rather of a latitudinarian philosophy, the impropriety of placing her statue in a church of the establishment, was, among other sufficient objections, strongly urged by many of Dr. Wilson's personal friends : but his enthusiasm prevailed, and the statue was placed, as an object of his political devotion, in the sanctuary of religion. Nor was this all : for it will be scarcely believed, but the fact was, that the figure was made to lean on a pedestal, which was decorated with the volumes of authors, some of whom had written expressly against the government of kings and established hierarchies, and whose philosophy, if it did not openly oppose, did not avowedly support the Christian religion. The Bishop of London, we believe, interfered, on the remon- strances of some of the parishioners ; which shortly occasioned the statue to be boarded up into concealment, and was afterwards removed from a place into which it ought never to have been received. The doctor, however, lived long enough to repent of his infatuated friendship and misplaced bounty to the extra- ordinary, but artful woman, who, for several years, had contrived to make him the dupe of her plausible character and consummate artifice.

We shall not conclude this chapter without mentioning a cir- cumstance connected with this Church, which we consider of indubitable authority.

The Earl of Burlington is well known to have possessed a scientific taste in architecture ; and he will continue to receive the celebrity due to his genius while the buildings which he erected, or their surviving representations, shall exist to testify

212 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

it. But, extraordinary as it may appear, he certainly left Eng- land to complete his education by foreign travel, without having seen the Church of St. Stephen Walbrook, and consequently without having heard of it. On his lordship's arrival at Rome, he happened to take possession of an apartment which was deco- rated with prints, representing, in general, the edifices of that city. On examining them, he distinguished the inside of a church, which struck him as possessing such a beautiful display of his darling science, that, supposing it to be a proud ornament of Rome, he determined to make it the object of his earliest visit. Accordingly, on the following morning, when his cicerone arrived, he pointed to the print, and desired to be immediately conducted to the original. The cicerone stared with astonishment ; nor did Lord Burlington feel an inferior emotion of surprise, as well as mortification, when he was informed, that it was a church in the city of London, the work of Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St. Paul's cathedral. He, at a subsequent period, however, made the most ample amends for his former negligence ; for, the instant he arrived in London from abroad, he ordered his people to take him, without stopping at any other place, to the Church of St. Stephen Walbrook, though it was late in the evening, when he viewed it by torchlight with the most enthusiastic pleasure ; exulting, at the same time, that he beheld a structure which rivalled the finest architectural works of the countries he had visited, in the metropolis of his own, and that it had been de- signed and completed by a native of it.

WATCH-HOUSE

THE security of person and property must ever be among the first cares of civil society, which cannot exist without it. We shall not be surprised, therefore, when we trace such a principle to the mind of Alfred, who established a power, by law, for the protection of individuals from violence and rob- bery. The institutions of that wise prince, for this desirable purpose, were found, from experience, to be of so great utility, that they continued till the time of Edward I. who finding them unequal to the increased population, wealth, and advanced state of the country, gave them new force and vigour, by " the grand and orderly method of watch and ward," for preserving the peace and preventing robberies, as established by the statute of Win- chester, in the thirteenth year of his reign. Ward is there under- stood to apply to the day ; while watch is applicable to the night, and is stated to begin at sunsetting and end at sunrising, in order to apprehend all rogues, vagabonds, and night-walkers. A great improvement in the watch of London had taken place in the pre- ceding reign, when, in consequence of the contentions between Henry the Third and his barons, in which the city took a decided part, the magistrates were induced, in the year 1263, to appoint a more sufficient guard, under the name of the city watch, which was appointed in every ward, to prevent night robberies, house- breaking, and other breaches of the peace. It was formed, with great ceremony and parade, twice in the year ; on the eve of St. John the Baptist, and on that of St. Peter and St. Paul ; and

2i4 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

formed one of the most splendid shows of that period. Some of our historians relate, that Henry VIII. in the year 1510, went in disguise to see this nocturnal parade ; and, from some accidental circumstance, was taken into custody ; when, refusing to give an account of himself, he was confined in the watch-house through the night : but, so far was the king from shewing any resentment, that he rewarded the officers for their diligence, and returned, on St. Peter's eve, with his royal consort, and attended by the prin- cipal nobility, when he stood in Cheapside, and saw the stately march ; which was usually conducted in the following manner.

The city music led the way, followed by the lord mayor's officers in parti-coloured liveries. The sword-bearer, on horse- back and clad in beautiful armour, preceded the lord mayor, mounted on a stately horse, richly decorated, attended by a giant and two pages on horseback, three pageants, morrice- dancers, and footmen. Next followed the sheriffs, with their officers in proper liveries, and attended by their giants, pages, &c. Then came a considerable body of demi-lancers, in bright armour, on horses finely caparisoned : these were followed by a great number of carabiniers, in fustian coats, with the city arms on their backs and breasts : then marched a division of archers, with their bows bent, and by their side shafts of arrows : after these a great number of halberdiers, preceded by a party of pike- men, with corslets and helmets : the rear was brought up by a body of billmen, with aprons and helmets of mail. The whole consisted of about two thousand men, in different divisions, each of which was attended by musicians, drums, standards, and ensigns. The march began at the conduit which stood opposite the end of Wood-street, in Cheapside, and passed along the

WATCH-HOUSE 215

latter, the Poultry, Cornhill, and Leadenhall-street, to Aldgate ; from whence it returned through Fenchurch-street, Gracechurch- street, and Cornhill, to the conduit where it set out. The pro- cession was illuminated by nine hundred and forty-nine large lanterns, fixed at the ends of poles, and carried on men's shoulders. A great number of lamps were also placed on the fronts of the houses, which were decorated with garlands and evergreens. This solemnity, however, having been suspended, in consequence of the sweating-sickness as it was called, in the year 1528, was afterwards prohibited by the king, on account of its great expence, and discontinued till the second year of Edward VI. ; when it was revived by the magnificent spirit of Sir John Gresham, then lord mayor. The procession on this occasion received an additional figure from three hundred light horsemen, who had been raised by the citizens for the service of the king. It sunk, nevertheless, into disuse, from the plague and other circumstances; but was partially renewed in the year 1563, on the petition of the armourers' company, whose interests were connected with such exhibitions. In this reduced, but still ex- pensive state, it continued for a very few years ; when, for the relief of the city, which at this time swarmed with vagrants, sturdy beggars, and maimed soldiers, the court of common council ordered the beadles of the different hospitals to take all vagabonds and mendicants to Bridewell ; the sick, lame, blind, and aged, to St. Bartholomew's and St. Thomas's hospitals ; and all vagabond children under sixteen, to Christ's hospital. In order to give effect to this necessary regulation, the two city marshals were first appointed, with horses and attendants properly accoutred ; and to alleviate this extraordinary expence, it was thought advisable to abolish the pomp and parade of the city

216 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

watch : when, in the place of it, a nightly watch was appointed, nearly similar to that which exists in our own day.

Of the nature of this watch, and of its similarity to our present establishments of the same nature, we have an admirable example in the third scene of the third act, and the second scene of the fourth act, of Shakspeare's fine comedy of Much Ado about Nothing ; which was written within forty years after this period, and of the strict resemblance to nature, little doubt, we believe, will be enter- tained by any one. Such a display of official authority, of official ignorance, and official indolence, may now, we fear, be occasionally represented in the watch-house of any parish in the metropolis. The race of the Dogberrys and the Vergesesjwz. believe, is not yet extinct.

Foote, in one of his pieces, named The Orators, made the guard of the night an object of his ridicule. The scene is that of a debating society, in which he continually varied his subjects for the public amusement. The question to which I allude, related to the best mode of preventing watchmen from sleeping in their boxes at night. When the arch comedian, in a speech in which he mimicked the eloquence, and, as it was said, adopted the serious opinion, of a certain alderman of that time, proposed a law to compel all watchmen, under a very severe penalty, to sleep a certain number of hours in the day, that the public might be sure of their being awake during the same number of hours in the night. To heighten the ridicule of the proposition, a gouty magistrate was also represented as having desired to be included in the compulsory clause of this sleeping act, as he frequently, for many successive days and nights, was not able to close his eyes.

The watch is a parochial establishment, supported by a paro- chial rate, and subject to the jurisdiction of the magistrates : it is

SI

THE WEST INDIA DOCKS 217

necessary to the peace and security of the metropolis, and is of considerable utility ; but that it might be rendered much more useful, cannot be denied. That the watch should consist of able- bodied men, is, we presume, essential to the complete design of its institution, as it forms a part of its legal description : but that the watchmen are persons of this character, experience will not vouch ; and why they are so frequently chosen from among the aged and the incapable, must be answered by those who make the choice. In the early part of the last century, an halbert was their weapon ; it was then changed into a long staff : but the great-coat and the lantern are now accompanied with more ad- vantageous implements of duty ; a bludgeon and a rattle. It is almost superfluous to add, that the Watch-house is a place where the appointed watchmen assemble to be accoutred for their noc- turnal rounds ; under the direction of a constable, whose duty being taken by 'rotation, enjoys the title of constable of the night. It is also the receptacle for such unfortunate persons as are appre- hended by the watch, and where they remain in custody till they can be conducted to the tribunal of a police-office, for the neces- sary examination of the magistrate. The engraving offers a very characteristic picture of the place which suggested the preceding observations.

THE WEST INDIA DOCKS

SUCH is the immense opulence of the commercial class of British subjects ; such are the treasures of the Royal Exchange of London, that any plan for the accommoda- tion or extension of trade, will want no aid that money can give.

2i8 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Such is the enterprising spirit, the commercial knowledge, and liberal conduct of British merchants, that their ships are welcome visitants to every part of the globe where winds can waft and waves can bear them. The circumstances of the world are such, that this country has naturally attracted the commerce of it, in a great measure, to itself. The Thames may be said to have groaned beneath the accumulated burthen of the ships which entered it ; so that it has been found essential to its navigation, that new inlets of accommodation should be provided for it. Among these, and indeed the principal feature of them, are the Docks erected on the Isle of Dogs, which are appropriated solely to the use of the West India trade ; and are represented in the plate which accompanies this page.

At the close of the last century, in consequence of the vast increase of shipping in the river Thames, so great and injurious delays were occasioned in the discharge of cargoes, from the want of adequate accommodation, both in unloading and storing the respective merchandise, as well as securing it from spoil and plunder, that it became a matter of the most serious consideration to the great body of merchants, to provide a remedy for the increasing evil. Nor was it long in contemplation, before the plan for the London Docks was projected, which is now become a concern of great magnitude. In the course of its formation, however, another undertaking, of still greater consequence, arose, which is the interesting subject of our consideration.

That valuable man, the late Mr. Robert Milligan, and Mr. George Hibbert, a most respectable and eminent West India merchant, not coinciding altogether with the projectors of the London Docks, were the original movers of the plan which ended

THE WEST INDIA DOCKS 219

in the establishment of the West India Dock Company. The first meetings were held at the Merchants Seamen-office in the Royal Exchange, when the sum of half a million was subscribed, in a very short time, by the West India merchants ; and on July the 1 2th, 1799, an act of Parliament was passed, to in- corporate this company, nearly twelve months previous to the legislative establishment of the London Docks, though the latter were the first projected, in consequence of the superior importance of the property of the West India planters.

These Docks consist of two parts. The northern one, which is appointed to receive loaded vessels inwards, is two thousand six hundred feet in length, and five hundred and ten feet in breadth, covering a surface of thirty acres, and is sufficiently capacious to hold from two to three hundred such ships as are used in the West India trade. The southern division, which is appropriated to the loading of vessels outward, is also two thousand six hundred feet long, and one hundred feet broad, covering a space of twenty- four acres. The openings into these Docks are at Limehouse and Blackwall ; and there is a range of spacious warehouses around them, for storing the West India produce, each of which is capable of containing eighty thousand hogsheads of sugar. All the West India ships must load and unload here, under a penalty of one hundred pounds. The expence of entering the Docks is settled at a certain rate, and amply repays the proprietors of the cargoes by the security it obtains.

The Customhouse, also, has been greatly relieved by this establishment, as the collectors attend there, and have their regular offices. The loading and unloading is accomplished with the greatest ease and expedition. The cranes are of iron, and

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

constructed on a new principle : they occupy a very small space ; and a single man, by the aid of one of them, moves one ton weight in or out of a ship, without any difficulty. This stupen- dous apparatus of commerce does not excite more astonishment from the ready and effectual application to .its uses, than it does approbation from the regularity with which it is governed, and the great benefits resulting from it.

The company is under the direction of a chairman, deputy chairman, and nineteen directors ; eight of whom, being four aldermen and four common-council-men, are appointed by the city; the other thirteen are chosen by the company. The qualification for a director is the actual possession, in his own right, of two thousand pounds stock. Five directors go out annually in rotation.

The company is invested with the usual power of corporations ; but with this exception, that their bye-laws are to be approved by the lord chancellor, the two chief justices, and the chief baron of the Exchequer, or one of them, before they can be carried into effect.

The natural expectation which must spring from contemplating an undertaking thus established and thus conducted, is, that it must prosper ; and it has prospered. The original capital of five hundred thousand pounds, has been increased to one million two hundred thousand pounds, and gives ten per cent, to the first proprietors. The shares of an hundred pounds each at the commencement of this admirable design, now sell in the public market at one hundred and eighty-three pounds.

The first stone of this magnificent, national undertaking, sacred to the commerce of our country, was laid July 12, 1800, as will

THE WEST INDIA DOCKS 221

appear by the following inscription, written on two rolls of vellum, the one in English and the other in Latin. They were inclosed in two square flint-glass bottles, with all the current English coins, and deposited in the first stone.

Of this range of BUILDINGS,

constructed, together with the adjacent DOCKS,

at the expence of public-spirited individuals,

under the sanction of a provident legislature,

and with the liberal co-operation of the corporate body of the city of London,

for the distinct purposes of complete SECURITY and ample ACCOMMODATION

(hitherto not afforded) to the SHIPPING and PRODUCE of the WEST INDIES at this wealthy PORT,

the FIRST STONE was laid on Saturday, the twelfth day of July, A.D. 1800,

by the concurring hands of

the Right Honourable Lord LOUGHBOROUGH,

Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain ;

the Right Honourable WILLIAM PITT,

First Lord Commissioner of his Majesty's Treasury, and Chancellor of his Majesty's

Exchequer ; GEORGE HIBBERT, Esq. the chairman,

and ROBERT MILLIGAN, Esq. the deputy chairman,

of

THE WEST INDIA DOCK COMPANY : the two former conspicuous in the band of

those illustrious statesmen

who in either House of Parliament have been zealous to promote, the two latter distinguished among those chosen to direct,

AN UNDERTAKING,

which, under the favour of God, shall contribute

STABILITY, INCREASE, and ORNAMENT

to BRITISH COMMERCE.

222 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Over the bottles was placed a copper-plate, on which were engraved the names of the FIRST DIRECTORS of the WEST INDIA COMPANY.

George Hibbert, Esq. chairman. Robert Milligan, Esq. deputy chairman.

Sir John William Anderson, Bart. William Lushington, Esq. Robert Bulcock, Esq. David Lyon, Esq.

Sir John Earner, Knight. Nevil Malcolm, Esq.

William Chrisholme, Esq. Thomas Plummer, Esq.

William Curtis, Esq. Thomas Simmonds, Esq.

Henry Davidson, Esq. Joseph Timperon, Esq.

John Deffel, Esq. John Wedderburn, Esq.

Thomas Gowland, Esq. Joseph Welch, Esq.

James Johnston, Esq. Henry Wildman, Esq.

Edward Kemble, Esq.

Mr. George Gwilt, the architect. Messrs. Walker and Rennie, the engineers.

O

WESTMINSTEK ABBEY

UR historians differ as to the period of the first building of this church : by some of them it is said, that, in the year 610, Sebert, King of the East Saxons, built a church or monastery in the Island of Thorney, situated to the west of London, which, at the desire of Mellitus, the bishop of the see, was dedicated to St. Peter. Stow is of opinion, that it was not erected till the year 614, and that the bishop himself was its founder, with the assistance of King Ethelbert. It was soon after destroyed by the Danes, and restored by King Edgar, in the year 958. It was afterwards rebuilt by Edward the Confessor, as a commutation with the pope for absolving him from a vow he had made to visit the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem. It was begun in 1049, and finished in 1066. This pious king not only re-edified it in a style of great magnificence, but enriched it with royal endowments, and the monks, who were of the Benedictine order, with extensive and peculiar privileges. They possessed the power to try causes within themselves, were exempt from episcopal authority, had their house converted into a sanctuary, and no jurisdiction, ecclesiastical or civil, was allowed to intrude upon them. The dedication of this church was solemnized with great splendour, the king having summoned a general assembly of the clergy and nobility to attend him on the occasion : but the

224 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

devotion of this prince outran his discretion ; for he assisted at the solemnity though in a state of fever, which being increased by the coldness of the season, it being Christmas, he died in the following month. By his particular command, his remains were interred in the new church. Spelman says, that this sacred structure transmitted to posterity the plan, so generally adopted in the Christian world, for building places of public worship in the form of a cross.

Henry III. but from what particular motive does not appear, pulled down the Saxon pile, and began to rebuild it, in the year 1245, after the design in which we now contemplate it. He did not live to see its completion : it was carried on, however, by his successor, and tardily continued by succeeding princes. From the portcullis on the roof of the last arches, it appears that Henry VII. or VIII. prosecuted the design, as that was the device of those monarchs. Indeed, it cannot be said to be yet finished : the tower in the center is still wanting ; and those at the west end are of so modern a date, as to have been the work of our great architect, Sir Christopher Wren. Henry III. who was a lover of the arts, decorated with paintings the part of this church which was finished by him ; but they have long since been defaced. The late Lord Orford, in his Anecdotes of Painting', among the precepts of this period, which he has preserved, for decorating the church, mentions one, which directs the painting of duos cheru- binos, cum hilari vultu et jocoso. This prince also caused the shrine to be made in honour of Edward the Confessor, which is placed in a chapel that bears his name. This beautiful mosaic work was the performance of Peter Cavalini, inventor *of that species of ornament. It is supposed that he was brought into

WESTMINSTER ABBEY 225

England by the Abbot Ware, who visited Rome in 1256. Weever, in his Funeral Monuments, expressly says, " He brought from thence certain workmen, and rich porphyry stones, whereof he made that curious, singular, rare pavement before the high altar ; and with these stones and workmen, he also framed the shrine of Edward the Confessor." Round the chapel are twelve others, built by Henry III. Along the screen of it are fourteen legendary sculptures respecting the Confessor, which mark the rude state of the arts at that period. In this chapel is an altar- tomb of Henry himself, supposed also to be the work of Cavalini, or one of his pupils. The figure of this prince, who died in the year 1272, is of brass, and in a recumbent posture. It is the first brazen image known to have been cast in this kingdom.

About the year 1502, Henry VII. began that beautiful structure which bears his name. It was built in consequence of the chapel of the Confessor being so crowded with princes, that there was not room for any accession of royal remains. The expence of its erection amounted to fourteen thousand pounds. By the last will and testament of this monarch, it appears that he intended this chapel to be the mausoleum of himself and his house, and that no one but of the blood royal should be interred in this splendid sepulchre. In the body of it is his tomb, the work of Pietro Torresiano, a Florentine sculptor, who was paid one thousand pounds for the work.

On the dissolution of the religious houses, this great monastery, the second mitred abbey in the kingdom, shared the common fate. In 1539, the abbot, William Benson, surrendered it to the king; and was, in return, made the first dean, with an association of twelve prebendaries. ' He also erected it into a bishopric ; but its

III. — Q

226 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

only bishop was Thomas Thirlby ; and, on his removal to the see of Norwich, it was restored by Edward VI. to its last character. The Protector Somerset actually indulged the sacrilegious design of pulling down the Abbey Church, to furnish the materials for his palace, since known by the name of Somerset House ; nor could he be diverted from his design by a less bribe than fourteen manors.

In the year 1557, Queen Mary restored it to its ancient con- ventual state ; but Queen Elizabeth again ejected the monks, and, in 1560, erected Westminster Abbey into a college, under the government of a dean and twelve secular canons or prebendaries. She also founded a school for forty scholars, denominated the Queen's, as they are now called the King's scholars, to be prepared by their education for the university.

This church underwent no material alterations after the death of Henry VII. till the reign of William and Mary, when it became the object of parliamentary consideration, and was repaired throughout at the expence of the nation. Though it suffered within from the rapacity of Henry VIII. and though its exterior beauty was greatly defaced, during the civil commotions, by republican fanaticism ; yet, by the superior skill of Sir Christopher Wren it was repaired and decorated with such taste and judgment, as to give it a degree of perfection which it had never before possessed.

In viewing the exterior of this fine structure, it is impossible to pass the magnificent portico of the north cross, without stopping to admire it. The arms of Richard II. were formerly over the gate, carved in stone ; and therefore it is supposed to have been built by him. It is Gothic, and very beautiful ; and over it is a very elegant window, of modern date. On the south side a very hand-

WESTMINSTER ABBEY 227

some window was set up in 1 705. But the interior of the church displays its principal beauties.

The inside presents, indeed, a superlative example of Gothic architecture, and strikes the eye, at the entrance, with a most solemn and beautiful perspective. The length of the building from east to west, is three hundred and seventy-five feet, measuring from the steps which lead to Henry the Seventh's chapel. The whole length of the cross from north to south, is one hundred and ninety-five feet, and the breadth of the nave and side aisles is seventy-two feet. The height from the pavement of the nave to the inner roof, is one hundred feet, and from the choir pavement to the roof of the lantern, is one hundred and forty feet. The nature of this work will not admit of a minute description of the interior architecture and decorations of this church, or its monumental splendour. A very general account of them both is all the reader can expect from us.

The choir possesses great beauty. It is divided from the western part of the great aisle by a pair of noble iron gates, and is terminated by a very fine altar of white marble, which formerly stood in a chapel at Whitehall. It was removed from the stores at Hampton-Court, in the year 1707, by order of Queen Anne, who presented it to this church. It is a fine example of Grecian architecture, and therefore exhibits a striking impropriety as the ornament of a Gothic structure. It is surrounded with a curious balustrade ; within which is a pavement of mosaic work, said to be the most beautiful of its kind in the world. It was laid in the year 1272. It sustained, however, a very lamentable injury from a fire, occasioned by the negligence of some plumbers who were repairing the roof, on the 9th of July, 1803. Before any effectual

228 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

assistance could be given, the roof of the lantern fell in, and did considerable damage to the choir. On the north and south it is inclosed with very handsome stalls, suited to the general character of the building. The floor is paved with marble ; and the roof, which is ornamented with small white tiles, is divided into com- partments, bordered with carved work, and enriched with gilding. In this choir is performed the ceremony of crowning the sovereigns of Great Britain ; and in Edward the Confessor's chapel are the chairs which are used on the occasion.

The monumental decorations of Westminster Abbey are very copious ; and though among them may be found examples of the finest sculpture, they obscure altogether the beauty of the structure. The monuments of our naval and military heroes, of divines and statesmen, and others who were distinguished by their talents or their name, crowd on each other in successive confusion. The south cross is denominated the Poets'-corner, as it contains the memorials of those favourites of the Muses who have enriched English literature with the fruits of their genius. Here we read the names of Chaucer, Spenser, Johnson, Davenant, Drayton, Butler, Cowley, Dryden, Prior, Rowe, Gay, Thomson, and Goldsmith : here we behold the marble sacred to the divine Milton : here also is the monument of the immortal Shakspeare, with Garrick buried beneath it ; who, having, by powers unequalled, extended the fame of the first dramatic bard, became a partaker of it. Here are also sepulchral tablets to the honour of Gray, our last great poet ; and his friend Mason, who sung in no common strain. The genius of Handel may also claim the place which is allotted to that sublime musician. Here, too, repose the ashes of Dr. Johnson, whose name will only die with the language

WESTMINSTER

WESTMINSTER ABBEY 229

and learning of his country. A plain stone, with his name inscribed on it, marks his grave: it was reserved for the cathedral of St. Paul to possess the honour of his monument.

The north cross forms that part of the Abbey which is repre- sented in the plate ; and how beautiful it is, that representation will display. It contains several superb monuments, and the remains of some highly distinguished men. Here repose the renowned Chatham, and William Pitt, his son, who, in talents and in eloquence, rivalled his father. Within a short space of the latter statesman, is the last abode of his great political opponent, Charles Fox. Here their contests ended ; and here, removed from the turmoils of state, and insensible to the goadings of ambition, they sleep together.

Henry the Seventh's chapel, whose history we have already given, and which Leland denominates the miracle of the world, adjoins the east end of the Abbey, and appears, on a superficial view, to be a part of the original building. It is supported with- out by fourteen Gothic buttresses, all beautifully ornamented, and is enlightened by a double range of windows. The entrance to it from the Abbey, is by a flight of steps of black marble, beneath a grand archway that leads into the body of the chapel. The gates at the entrance are of brass frame-work, curiously wrought, and decorated alternately with the rose and the portcullis. The roof is supported by twelve pillars and arches, adorned with various enrichments. At the east end is a stately window of painted glass, besides thirteen other windows above, and as many below, on the north and south sides. Under each of the upper range are five figures of angels, &c. placed in niches ; and under them the same number of angels, supporting imperial crowns, resting on fleurs de

23o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

lis, roses, and portcullises. The roof, which is of stone, is admirably divided into sixteen large circles, of rare workmanship ; and the pavement is of black and white marble. The length of this chapel is ninety-nine feet, the breadth sixty-six, and the height fifty-four feet.

The nave of this chapel is used for the ceremony of installing the Knights of the Bath. In their stalls, which are ranged on each side of the nave, are brass plates of their arms, &c. ; and over them hang their banners, swords, and helmets. These circum- stances certainly injure the architectural effect of the building, though they, at the same time, give it a considerable, and not unappropriate air of dignity.

The original design of this structure for a royal sepulchre, has been fulfilled, as the remains of royal personages, or of those whose descent may be generally traced to some of our kings, have alone been interred in it.

The tomb of the royal founder and his queen, with their effigies in brass, and at full length, has been already mentioned. At the head of the tomb lie the remains of Edward VI. The monument which was erected by his sister and successor, Mary, was after- wards destroyed as a relic of Popish superstition. At the end of the north side repose the relics of Edward V. and his brother, Richard, Duke of York. Their bones, after remaining two hundred and one years among the rubbish of the stairs lately leading to the chapel of the White Tower, were discovered, and ordered by Charles II. to be interred with the remains of their predecessors. At the east end of the same aisle is a vault, in which are deposited King James I. and his queen. In this chapel also repose, beneath superb monuments, the prosperous Elizabeth, and the unfortunate

WESTMINSTER ABBEY 231

Mary, Queen of Scots. The latter was interred in Peterborough cathedral, after her unmerited death on the scaffold ; but, on the accession of her son to the throne of England, her remains were removed from thence to the sepulchre of her ancestors. At the east end of the south aisle is the last abode of Charles II. William III. and Mary his consort, and Queen Anne. Under- neath the body of the chapel is the vault prepared, on the death of Queen Caroline, for the reception of the present royal family. Here a large marble sarcophagus contains the coffins of George II. and his queen ; the side boards of which were, by the express command of the king, constructed in such a manner as to be removed, in order that they might moulder together in one common heap of dust.

I shall close the account of this magnificent repository of the dead with the beautiful observations which Mr. Addison has written on it. " When I look upon the tombs of the great, every emotion of envy dies in me : when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful, every inordinate desire goes out : when I meet with the grief of a parent on a tombstone, my heart melts with compassion : when I see the tombs of the parents themselves, I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow : when I see kings lying by those who deposed them ; when I consider rival wits placed side by side, or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes, I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind : when I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago, I consider that great day when we shall be contemporaries, and make our appearance together."

232 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

From the south aisle of the Abbey there are two entrances into the cloisters : they are entire, and have their walls almost covered with monuments. The entrance into the chapter-house, which was built in 1250, is on the east side, through a rich and magnificent Gothic portal, and by a descent of several steps. Its form is octagonal, each side of which had noble and lofty windows, now filled up, and lighted by less ones. The immediate entrance into this room possesses a grandeur equal to that from the cloisters. The original roof is destroyed, but the central pillar remains, sur- rounded by eight others, which terminate in capitals of a beautiful simplicity. In the year 1377, the Commons of Great Britain first held their Parliaments in this place; and here they sat till 1547, when Edward VI. granted the chapel of St. Stephen for that pur- pose. It is at present filled with public records : among them is the original Doomsday-book, which though above seven hundred years old, is in as fine preservation as if it had been the work of yesterday.

Near the Abbey stood the Sanctuary, a place of refuge in former times to a certain denomination of criminals ; and to the west of the Sanctuary was the Eleemosynary, or Almory, where the alms of the Abbey used to be distributed. It is, however, still more interesting from having been the place where the first printing- press was erected in England. It was in the year 1474, when William Caxton, probably encouraged by the learned Thomas Milling, then abbot, produced The Game and Play of the Ckesse, the first book which was printed in these kingdoms. — " The monks," observes Mr. Pennant, "would not have permitted this, could they have foreseen how certainly the art would conduce to their overthrow, by the extension of knowledge, and the long- concealed truths of Christianity."

233

WESTMINSTER HALL

THIS magnificent room was part of the royal palace of Westminster, founded by Edward the Confessor, and which he made the place of his residence. The stairs still retaining the name of the Palace-stairs, led to it from the river Thames, and the two Palace-yards were courts in this spacious edifice.

The New Palace-yard is the area before the Hall. At a former period it was decorated with an handsome fountain, and a lofty square tower, which contained a clock, and was appropriately called the Clock Tower. A view of the spot, with these circum- stances, has been left us by Hollar.

Many parts of the ancient palace exist at the present moment, and are converted to various uses. The great Hall was built, or more properly rebuilt, by William Rufus, as it is not to be sup- posed, that the palace of a sovereign should have been constructed without an apartment of this nature, which was equally demanded by the magnificence and the manners of that age. It is related, that on his return from Normandy, he celebrated the high festival of Christmas in this Hall with great magnificence ; and it appears to have been used for several reigns on similar occasions, when our kings gave their splendid entertainments to their nobles and clergy. It is particularly recorded of Henry III. that on new-

234 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

year's day, 1236, he gave a public feast to six thousand poor men, women, and children, in this Hall and the other rooms of the palace.

In the reign of Richard II. the old building had become so ruinous, that he ordered the whole to be taken down ; when the present Hall was erected, and, being completed in the year 1397, was called the New Palace, to distinguish it from the Old Palace, which contains the Houses of Lords and Commons.

In the year 1399, the same king held his Christmas here; during which festival he entertained ten thousand guests in this Hall and the adjoining chambers of the palace. On this occasion eighty oxen, three hundred sheep, and an innumerable quantity of poultry, were daily killed. It may not be amiss in this place to observe, that this monarch appears to have paid more attention to the enjoyments of the table, than any of our kings. Of this there is a remarkable document remaining, which we consider as the most curious piece of culinary antiquity now existing. It is a book entitled The Forme of Cury, compiled, about the year 1390, by the master cooks of this luxurious monarch; in which are preserved receipts for the most exquisite dishes of the time. It was printed by the late Gustavus Brander, Esq. with a preface by that learned antiquary, the Rev. Dr. Pegge.

This ancient structure is of stone, whose front is ornamented with two towers, enriched with carved work, and has been lately relieved from the low buildings which were attached to, and obscured, it. The Hall exceeds in dimensions any room in Europe which is not supported by columns, being two hundred and seventy feet in length, and seventy-four in breadth. The pavement is of stone, and the roof, which has generally been

WESTMINSTER HALL 235

supposed to be of oak, though Mr. Pennant states it to be chiefly of chesnut, is of a most curious construction, and a fine example of the ornamental- Gothic. Its contrivance and workmanship have never failed to receive the admiration they deserve. The canta- livers which support the roof, are decorated with angels, each bearing a shield, with the arms of Richard II. or those of Edward the Confessor. It was formerly covered with lead, but that being found too weighty, it has for some years been relieved by the substitution of slate. The plate, we presume, will illustrate, in the most satisfactory manner, the description which has been given.

Parliaments frequently sat in this Hall ; and Stow mentions, that, in the year 1397, during the reign of Richard II. when it was in a very ruinous state, he built a temporary room for his Parliament, formed with wood, and covered with tiles. He repre- sents it as being open on all sides, that the constituents might hear and see every thing that was said and done.

Courts of justice, also, in the very early periods of our history, appear to have sat in this Hall, where the king presided in person ; for which reason it was called Curia Domini Regis ; and hence is derived the title of one of our present principal courts, which is called the Court of King's Bench.

The most ancient of the courts held beneath this venerable roof is the Court of Chancery, Cancellaria, so called from the judge who presides here, the lord chancellor, or cancellarius, who, according to Sir Edward Coke, is so termed a cancellando, from cancelling the king's letters patent when granted contrary to law, which is the highest point of his jurisdiction. It is held on the right-hand side of the stairs leading up to the Court of Requests.

236 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

On the opposite side is the Court of King's Bench. About the middle of the Hall, on the west side, is the Court of Common Pleas, Communia Placita. It used to follow the king wherever he chanced to reside, but on account of the great inconveniences resulting from that circumstance, it was appointed by Magna Charta to be permanent in Westminster Hall, as being within the walls of the principal royal palace of our kings. On the entrance of the Hall from Palace-yard, there are stairs on each side ; those on the right hand lead to the Court of Exchequer, and those on the left to the office which is called the Receipt of Exchequer. The Court of Exchequer was established by William the Conqueror, as a part of the Aula Regia, though regulated and reduced to its present order by Edward I. and intended principally to regulate the revenues of the crown, and to recover the king's debts and duties. It is called Exchequer, Scaccarium, from the chequered cloth, resembling a chess-board, which covers the table there ; whereon, when certain of the king's accounts are made up, the sums are marked and scored with counters.

This Hall is generally used for the trial of peers, accused of treason or any other high crimes; as well as for that of all persons impeached by the House of Commons. Here Charles I. was tried by his self-constituted judges, and condemned to die.

In this Hall the kings of England have, for many ages, held their coronation feasts.

237

WHITEHALL CHAPEL

OF the old palace of Whitehall, to which this building was added, as part of a very extensive plan of re-edification, there are very early accounts. It became, at length, the London residence of the archbishops of York, and was called York- House. Under this character, consisting of a mansion, with two gardens, three acres of land, and the appurtenances, it was seized by Henry VIII. in the twenty-first year of his reign, in consequence of Cardinal Wolsey having incurred the pre- munire, by which all his goods and possessions were forfeited to the crown ; and when the king afterwards restored to him the appurtenances of the archbishopric of York, his majesty was pleased to make a reservation of this place to himself. He then inclosed a park for the use of this palace and that of St. James, and ordered a tennis-court, a cockpit, and bowling-greens, to be formed, with other places, for different kinds of diversion.

From this time, Whitehall became the residence of the kings of England, till the year 1697, when the whole was destroyed by fire, except the present edifice, which was fortunately preserved.

This beautiful and magnificent structure is built entirely of stone, and is divided into three stories. The lowest, or basement story, consists of a rustic wall, with small square windows. From this springs the Ionic order in a range of columns and pilasters ;

238 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

and between the columns are well-proportioned windows, with alternate arched and triangular pediments : over these is placed the proper entablature, on which is raised a second series, of the Corinthian order, consisting also of columns and pilasters, the capitals of which are connected with festoons of flowers, with masks and other ornaments in the center. From the entablature of this series rises a balustrade, with attic pedestals, in their places, which crowns the whole.

This building has been called the Banqueting- House, from its having been placed on the site of the apartments erected by Elizabeth, which were distinguished by that name. It is only a small part of the plan of James I. for rebuilding the royal palace, which was begun in 1619, from a design of Inigo Jones, in his purest manner. It was finished in two years, and cost seventeen thousand pounds. The remuneration of the architect seems to have been disproportionate to his genius and professional merit ; as, according to the late Lord Orford, he received only eight shillings and four-pence per day as surveyor of the works, and forty-six pounds per annum for house-rent, a clerk, and other incidental expences. The vast plan was left unexecuted, on account of the unhappy times which succeeded. It was to have consisted of four fronts, each having an entrance between two square towers. The interior was to have contained five courts ; a large one in the center, and two smaller ones at the ends ; and, between two of the latter, a beautiful circus, with an arcade below, the pillars of which were to be in the form of Cariatides. This palace was to have been 1152 feet in length, and 874 in depth.

The banqueting-room has been converted into a chapel, and is

WHITEHALL CHAPEL 239

one of the chapels royal ; which, besides the necessary establish- ment, has twenty-four preachers, selected equally from both the universities, with a salary of thirty pounds per annum : they officiate in succession, and were appointed by George the First. This Chapel has been lately repaired and fitted up for the use of the regiments of guards. The plate represents it in its canonical character. The ceiling of this noble room has received universal admiration, and well deserves it. The subject is the Apotheosis of James the First, treated in nine compartments ; in which, among other allegories, that monarch is represented on his throne, turning with horror from War and other discordant deities ; and resigning himself to Peace, and her natural atten- dants, commerce and the fine arts. This splendid and beautiful composition is painted on canvas, and is in fine preservation. The artist received three thousand guineas for this great work. About thirty years since, it was taken down and repaired by Cipriani. The present altar-piece, which escaped the fire of Whitehall, was the gift of Queen Anne. Near the entrance is the bust of the royal founder.

This place was chosen by the regicides as the last scene of the unfortunate Charles I. He was brought, on the morning of his execution, from St. James's to Whitehall, where, ascending the great staircase, he was conducted to his bedchamber, which was allotted for the last act of pious preparation ; and from thence, through a breach made in the wall, to the scaffold.

In the court behind the Banqueting- House is a very fine statue, in brass, of James II. by Grinling Gibbons.

240

THE WORKHOUSE

THE poor of this country derived their sole subsistence from private benevolence and monastic institutions till the time of Henry VIII. ; at least, no compulsory mode of provision for them appears before the statute of the twenty- sixth year of that monarch's reign. This was followed by other laws to the same effect, in consequence of the total dissolution of the religious houses, which had been a principal resource to the poor, by the daily distribution of alms at their gates. These statutes distinguish the two classes of the poor which are the objects of their regulating power : — the sick and impotent, who were unable to work ; and the idle and sturdy, who were able, but unwilling to engage in honest employment. In order to provide for them both, in and about the metropolis, Edward VI. founded the royal hospitals, Christ's and St. Thomas's, for the relief of infancy and sickness ; and Bridewell, for the punishment and employment of the vigorous and idle. But as these wise and humane institutions could not comprehend the distant poor, a law was passed in the forty-third year of Elizabeth, by which over- seers of the poor were appointed in every parish throughout the kingdom, who are empowered to raise competent sums for the necessary relief of the poor, impotent, old, blind, and such other paupers as are not able to work ; and to provide work for such as

WORKHOUSE 241

are able, and cannot otherwise get employment. Such was this admirable law ; and the farther the subsequent plans have deviated from it, the more impracticable and inefficient they have proved.

The wise principle of the law of Elizabeth, we presume, first suggested the use of workhouses ; and that of the city of London appears to have been the first of these establishments, as an act was passed for the government of it in the year 1662. That of St. James's parish, Westminster, and which is the immediate subject of our consideration, was first instituted in the year 1716, when a silk-manufactory, situate between Poland-street and Carnaby market, was purchased by the parish, and suitably distributed for the purpose to which it has been since applied. By an act of the first year of his present Majesty, it was subjected to the administration of twenty-one parishioners, denominated governors and directors, to be annually chosen by the select vestry ; who, with the churchwardens and overseers, are charged with its government, and are invested with the power to make such orders, rules, and regulations, as they think necessary for promoting the design of this parochial establishment. Having examined its regulations, we find that they involve every thing that relates to the admission, employment, clothes, work, educa- tion, food, health, and particular condition of the several classes of its inhabitants.

The average number of persons maintained in this asylum amounts to seven hundred and fifty. In the school of industry there are three hundred children, and two hundred are at nurse at Wimbledon ; who, when they have attained the age of seven years, are transferred to the establishment in London. Those who are able to work, are employed in needle-work, slop-work,

III. — R

242 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

pulling and winding cotton for tallow-chandlers, spinning mop and carpet yarn, picking horse-hair for upholsterers, making hat- boxes, &c. They are supplied with clothes made of very good second cloths ; but are not distinguished by any particular livery, or compelled to wear a parochial badge. For their food, they are allowed the best ox beef, legs, shoulders, and necks of mutton, four days in the week ; on the other days, soup and puddings.

The officers of the house consist of a master, to superintend the men, and a matron, to overlook the women ; a schoolmaster and schoolmistress, with the necessary attendants. There are also a surgeon, an apothecary, and a chaplain.

The men and women are separated from each other ; and the common room, used by the latter, forms the subject of the plate.

Each parish in London has a similar institution.

GREENWICH HOSPITAL

THIS superb edifice stands on the spot which had been occupied by the palace of several of our monarchs ; a print of which has been published from an ancient drawing by the Antiquarian Society. Edward I. Henry VI. and Henry VII. occasionally resided in it; Henry VIII. and his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, were born there ; and within its walls Edward VI. terminated the short reign which had presaged so much good to his people. Queen Elizabeth, according to the account of her progresses published by Mr. J. Nichols, frequently

GREENWICH HOSPITAL 243

visited this pleasant place. James I. and his son, Charles I. sometimes favoured it with their presence ; but little attention appears to have been paid to the building till the succeeding reign, when it was pulled down by order of Charles II. with the design of rebuilding it in a style of the utmost magnificence. Of this he left a distinguished part, consisting of the first wing, which was completed under his auspices, at the expence of thirty thousand pounds. The architect was Webb, the son-in-law and disciple of Inigo Jones. It was intended to be a splendid palace for the sovereign who ruled the kingdom, but is become a no less splendid asylum for the age and infirmities of the brave men who have fought for it.

When the patriotic plan was first contemplated for the repose and solace of seamen, disabled by age, or maimed in the service of their country, Sir Christopher Wren proposed that the un- finished palace should be completed for that noble purpose ; and trustees were accordingly nominated for realising the proposition. In the year 1695, King William, his royal consort, Mary, being dead, granted a charter for its establishment; and on the 3d of June, in the following year, the first stone of the additional building was laid by our great architect, who, highly to his honour, offered to superintend this national work, and which he did, with assiduous care and consummate skill, without any emolument.

In its present state it consists of four distinct piles of building, distinguished by the names of King Charles, Queen Anne, King William, and Queen Mary. The two former are nearest the river, and in their front is a terrace eight hundred and sixty-five feet in length. The interval between them forms an area of two hundred and seventy feet in breadth. The two latter display an

244 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

exterior conformity to each other, though they differ in their parts and ornaments. To the inner side of each range of building is attached a fine colonnade of Portland stone, consisting of numerous duplicated Doric columns and pilasters, with their entablature crowned by a balustrade, and extending a length of three hundred and forty-seven feet ; with a return pavilion at the end, of seventy feet. Above the southern extremity of each colonnade, is a dome of an elegant form and pleasing proportions. The space between the colonnades is in breadth one hundred and fifteen feet. The part of King William's building which contains the hall, was designed and erected by Sir Christopher Wren. The north and south fronts are of stone ; the west front, which was finished by Sir John Vanbrugh, is of brick.

Over the doors in the vestibule are compartments, in chiaro oscuro, recording the names of benefactors to the Hospital. Here is also the model of an antique ship, given by Lord Anson. In the cupola is a compass, with its points duly bearing. In the covings are the four winds, in alto relievo. From the vestibule, an high flight of steps leads into the great hall or saloon, which is one hundred and six feet in length, fifty-six feet wide, and fifty feet high. In the surrounding frieze is the following inscription :— Pietas augusta ut habitent secure et publice alantur qui publicce securitati invigilarunt regia Grenovici Maria auspiciis sublevandis, nautis destinata regnantibus Gulielmo et Maria, 1694. This hall was painted by Sir James Thornhill, a native artist, of great merit. He possessed a fertile and fine invention, and sketched his thoughts with great ease, freedom, spirit, and taste. If he had been allowed the opportunity of visiting Italy, to have given more correctness to his drawing, and to have acquired a superior know-

GREENWICH HOSPITAL 245

ledge of colouring, no modern artist would have excelled him. He was six years in completing this work, for which he was paid ;£668 5, being after the rate of three pounds for the ceiling and one pound for the sides, per square yard. The ceiling displays a very large and deep oval frame, in the center of which King William and Queen Mary are represented, seated on a throne, under a rich canopy, and surrounded by personifications of the cardinal virtues, the seasons, the four elements, the signs of the zodiac, and various other emblematical and symbolical devices. At each end of the oval, the ceiling is raised in perspective, and exhibits a gallery with an elliptic arch, supported by groupes of stone-coloured figures. These galleries display various appro- priate naval embellishments, with the English rivers, and the arts and sciences relating to navigation. In one of them are introduced the portraits of Flamstead, the astronomer royal, and Mr. Thomas Weston, his pupil, accompanied by Copernicus and Tycho Brahe. The sides of the hall are adorned with fluted pilasters, trophies, &c. ; and, in recesses on the north side, which correspond with a double row of windows on the south, are allegorical figures, in chiaro oscuro, of the more liberal virtues, as Hospitality, Generosity, Benignity, &c. From the saloon, a second flight of steps leads to the upper hall ; the ceiling of which represents Queen Anne, with her consort, Prince George of Denmark, accompanied by various figures, and round them the four quarters of the globe ; with the arms of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland. The side walls represent the landing of the Prince of Orange at Harwich, and of George I. at Greenwich. The upper end is decorated with a large painting of George I. and his family, with various emblematical figures. Here Sir

246 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

James Thornhill has taken an opportunity to introduce a portrait of himself.

In this part of the hall is placed the funeral car which bore the remains of the immortal Nelson to repose beneath the dome of St. Paul's cathedral. It was presented by the Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Dartmouth, to Greenwich Hospital, as a memorial of the gratitude of the British nation to its naval heroes. The hall, with its late impressive addition to its decorations, is not, we presume, unsuccessfully represented in the plate which illustrates the foregoing description.

In Queen Mary's building is the chapel : the interior part, with the roof, having been destroyed by fire on the 26. of January, 1779, has been restored from the designs of Stuart, generally called Athenian Stuart, from his travels in Greece, and his celebrated work on the antiquities of Athens.

The vestibule which forms the entrance to the chapel, is an octagon, adorned with appropriate statues ; from whence is an ascent of fourteen steps to the chapel, through a portal, whose decorations, enrichments, and proportions, render it a masterpiece of taste. The chapel, which is one hundred and eleven feet long and fifty-two in breadth, displays an example of enriched Grecian architecture, which almost defies competition in any part of Europe. Throughout the whole there appears superior taste, the happiest appropriation, and the most judicious disposition. The most subordinate parts are regulated by characteristic propriety : the very pavement is made to represent the anchor, the compass, and other naval emblems. This superb room has a double range of windows on each side, between which are the galleries supported on cantalivers, decorated with antique ornaments and

3,

r.

0 .j = 5j

g fi

GREENWICH HOSPITAL 247

foliage ; beneath which are ranges of fluted pilasters, with an enriched entablature, and connected by festoons. Above the lower ranges of windows are small oval paintings, in chiaro oscuro, representing the principal events in the life of our Saviour, by De Bruyn, Catton, Milburne, and Rebecca. Above the galleries, and springing from an enriched stone fascia, are ranges of pilasters of the Composite order, with scagliola shafts, corre- sponding with those of eight grand Corinthian columns that support the roof, whose bases and capitals are of statuary marble. The ceiling is curved and divided into compartments, with antique ornaments. The epistylium which goes round the chapel, is enriched by angels bearing festoons of oak leaves and marine decorations. The spaces between the upper window and over the doors of the galleries, are adorned with the figures of the prophets, evangelists, and apostles, in chiaro oscuro, by Rebecca. The organ gallery is supported by six fluted Ionic columns, with their entablature, and crowned by a balustrade. In the front of the gallery is a small basso-relievo of angels sounding the harp. The altar-piece is painted by West, and consists of a very large picture, twenty-five feet high and fourteen wide, representing the preservation of St. Paul from shipwreck on the Island of Melita ; a subject admirably calculated to impress the minds of seamen with a due sense of their past preservation, and their present com- fortable situation and support in the noble asylum which the bounty and gratitude of their country have prepared for them. The communion - table, the pulpit, and the reading-desk, are designed and decorated in the same superior taste which dis- tinguishes the whole of this admirable structure.

In King Charles's building are the governor's apartments ;

GREENWICH HOSPITAL 247

foliage ; beneath which are ranges of fluted pilasters, with an enriched entablature, and connected by festoons. Above the lower ranges of windows are small oval paintings, in chiaro osciiro, representing the principal events in the life of our Saviour, by De Bruyn, Catton, Milburne, and Rebecca. Above the galleries, and springing from an enriched stone fascia, are ranges of pilasters of the Composite order, with scagliola shafts, corre- sponding with those of eight grand Corinthian columns that support the roof, whose bases and capitals are of statuary marble. The ceiling is curved and divided into compartments, with antique ornaments. The epistylium which goes round the chapel, is enriched by angels bearing festoons of oak leaves and marine decorations. The spaces between the upper window and over the doors of the galleries, are adorned with the figures of the prophets, evangelists, and apostles, in chiaro oscuro, by Rebecca. The organ gallery is supported by six fluted Ionic columns, with their entablature, and crowned by a balustrade. In the front of the gallery is a small basso-relievo of angels sounding the harp. The altar-piece is painted by West, and consists of a very large picture, twenty-five feet high and fourteen wide, representing the preservation of St. Paul from shipwreck on the Island of Melita ; a subject admirably calculated to impress the minds of seamen with a due sense of their past preservation, and their present com- fortable situation and support in the noble asylum which the bounty and gratitude of their country have prepared for them. The communion - table, the pulpit, and the reading-desk, are designed and decorated in the same superior taste which dis- tinguishes the whole of this admirable structure.

In King Charles's building are the governor's apartments ;

248 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

adjoining to which is the council-room, containing the following portraits: George II. by Shackleton ; King William and Queen Mary, by Kneller ; the late Earl of Sandwich, by Gainsborough ; Edward, first Earl of Sandwich, by Lely ; Viscount Torrington, an half-length and a whole-length, by Davison; Robert Ostelston, Esq. by Dugard ; Admiral Sir John Jennings, by Richardson ; Captain Clements, by Lely ; and the head of James Worley, a venerable old man, the first pensioner admitted into the Hospital.

This magnificent institution was opened in January, 1705, when only fifty-two men were admitted. The number has continued gradually to increase to two thousand four hundred and ten. Sailors in the merchants' service, wounded in taking or defending a ship, are also received. The pensioners are provided with clothes, diet, and lodging ; and have an allowance, called tobacco- money, which to the boatswains is two shillings and sixpence, to the boatswains-mates one shilling and sixpence, and to the seamen one shilling, per week. There are also one hundred and fifty nurses belonging to the Hospital, who are widows of seamen.

The school-house, for the education of the children of seamen for the sea-service, was erected in 1783, after a design by Stuart. It is a plain, handsome building, with large school-room, dormitories, &c. : for the enlargement of which, and to complete it as a naval asylum, the ranger's house has been lately added, with an augmented establishment.

The revenues of the Hospital arise from a duty of sixpence per month upon every mariner, whether in the king's or merchants' service ; the profits of the North and South Foreland lighthouses ; ,£6000 pounds out of the duty on coals ; the forfeited estates of the Earl of Derwentwater, and other inferior resources.

CHELSEA HOSPITAL 249

The commissioners of Greenwich Hospital appointed by charter, are, the great officers of state, the lords of the privy- council, the judges, the lord mayor, the governor, and twenty- four directors. The principal officers are, a governor, a lieutenant- governor, four captains, eight lieutenants, a treasurer, secretary, auditor, surveyor, clerk of the cheque, two chaplains, a physician, surgeon, steward, and various assistant and inferior servants. The present principal officers are,

Lord Viscount Hood, governor. John Dyer, Esq. secretary.

John Bouchier, Esq. lieutenant-governor. Lord Auckland, auditor.

Admiral Sir John Colpoys, K.B. treasurer.

Rev. J. Cooke, M.A. and Rev. J. Maule, M.A. chaplains.

CHELSEA HOSPITAL

THIS royal Hospital for invalids in the land service is a very noble edifice, erected for a most noble purpose, and was built after the design, and under the direction, of our great architect, Sir Christopher Wren. 1 1 stands on the site of a college, founded for secular priests, by Dr. Sutcliffe, dean of Exeter, in the reign of James I. and was patronised by that monarch. It was distinguished by the title of King James's College, and was intended for the study of polemical divinity, which may be considered as the rage of that period. An act of Parliament was obtained for its establishment, and a consider- able part of it was built. It was designed in a very bad taste, as

2 50 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

may be seen in a print of it in Grose's Military Antiquities. The first provost and fellows were men of eminent learning in their day : nevertheless, with all this promise of prosperity, it failed of success. On the death of King James it lost a power- ful patron ; the troubles of the succeeding reign were not favour- able to its continuance ; and a nursery of religious controversy was not likely to be encouraged by Charles II. The building, therefore, fell into decay ; and the ground on which it stood reverting to the crown, Charles II. ordered the former college to be pulled down, to give place to the erection of the present Hospital; and on the i2th day of March, 1682, he laid the first stone of this magnificent fabric.

Tradition assigns the origin of this institution to the humane and persevering suggestions of Nell Gwyn, the well-known mis- tress of Charles II. This opinion is not without its corroborating circumstances. The active benevolence of her character is on record. Mr. Lysons mentions a paragraph in a newspaper of the day, which gives some plausibility to the supposition ; and a public-house still exists in the vicinity of the Hospital, which has her portrait for its sign, with an inscription that ascribes to her the merit of the foundation.

The anonymous author of the life of Eleanor Gwyn gives the following account of the concern she took in the promotion of this establishment: — " Another act of generosity which raised the character of this lady above every other courtezan of these or any other times, was her solicitude to effect the institution of Chelsea Hospital. One day, when she was rolling about town in her coach, a poor man came to the coach-door, who told her that he had been wounded in the civil wars in defence of the royal

CHELSEA HOSPITAL 251

cause. This circumstance greatly affected her benevolent heart ; and in the overflow of pity, she hurried to the king, and repre- sented the misery in which she had found an old servant ; and entreated that some scheme might be proposed to his majesty towards supporting those unfortunate sons of valour, whose old age, wounds, or infirmities rendered them unfit for service. This observation she communicated to personages of distinction, who were public-spirited enough to encourage it ; and to Nell Gwyn is now owing the comfortable provision which was made for decayed soldiers, and that pleasant retreat they find at Chelsea."

The edifice was not completed till the year 1690; the whole expence of the building amounting to one hundred and fifty-three thousand pounds. The commissioners appointed for the conduct of the Hospital, were, Richard, Earl of Ranelagh, paymaster- general ; Sir Stephen Fox, Knight, lord-commissioner of the Treasury ; and Sir Christopher Wren, Knight, surveyor-general of the works.

The exterior of the structure is plain, but not without a stately appearance. The object of the architect was to give it a suitable character, and to save expence. It is of better brick- work than is seen in modern buildings ; and the coins, cornices, pediments, and columns, are of free-stone. The different wards for the pensioners are light and airy ; the chapel and the hall are well disposed ; and the house allotted to the governor contains some very elegant and spacious apartments : the colonnade and portico towards the river are handsome and well-proportioned, and afford a comfortable, sheltered walk and communication between the wings for the old soldiers in wet weather. The whole building, with the gardens, occupies a space of about thirty-six acres.

252 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

The Hospital consists of three courts, the principal of which is open to the south side : in the center of it is a bronze statue of Charles II. The eastern and western wings of this court are each three hundred and sixty-five feet in length and forty feet in breadth, and are chiefly occupied by the pensioners' wards. At the extremity of the eastern wing is the governor's house, which is large and commodious. The state-room is thirty-seven feet in length, twenty-seven in breadth, and twenty-six feet in height. The ceiling is divided into oval compartments, richly ornamented with the initials of Charles II. James II. and William and Mary, the royal arms, and military trophies. This room contains portraits of Charles I. his queen, and his two sons, Charles, Prince of Wales, and James, Duke of York ; as well as those of Charles II. William III. and their present Majesties. In the western wing are the apartments of the lieutenant-governor. In the other two courts are those of the other officers, with the kitchen, infirmary, &c.

The north side of the principal court is occupied by the chapel and the hall, with a large vestibule between them, terminated by a cupola. The chapel is one hundred and ten feet in length and thirty in breadth : it is paved with black and white marble, and wainscotted with Dutch oak. The altar-piece was painted by Sebastian Ricci, and represents the resurrection of our Saviour. The hall is on the opposite side of the vestibule, and of the same dimensions. At the upper end is a large portrait of Charles II. on horseback ; and in the background is a view of the Hospital. Its accessory parts are allegorical ; and the figures of Hercules, Minerva, Peace, and Father Thames, are introduced with their several attributes. It was designed by Verrio, and finished by

CHELSEA HOSPITAL 253

Henry Cook. This hall, with its appropriate accompaniments, forms the subject of the plate, as a decorative illustration of the subject.*

The north front, which is very extensive, is composed of small parts ; but they are so disposed and proportioned, as to produce a very grand effect. Before it is an inclosure of fourteen acres, planted with avenues of limes and horse-chesnuts. The ground towards the south is laid out in a garden, which extends to the Thames ; with a kitchen, for the use of the establishment.

The Hospital being considered as a military station, a certain number of the pensioners daily mount guard, and perform other garrison duties.

The interior affairs of the Hospital are regulated by com- missioners appointed by the crown, which consist of the governor, lieutenant-governor, and some of the principal officers of state, who hold a board as the occasion may require.

The Hospital and out-pensioners are supported by an annual grant from Parliament, voted with the army estimates. In the last session of Parliament an act was passed, to oblige all army prize-agents to pay the amount of unclaimed prize-money in their hands, to the treasurer of Chelsea Hospital, to be vested in the funds, and the interest to be applied in aid of the expenditure of the establishment. The whole annual expence of in and out- pensioners, officers' salaries, &c. amounts to about ,£420,000.

The in-pensioners are divided into sixteen wards, and consist of

* General courts martial, which were formerly held at the Horse-Guards, are now- held at Chelsea Hospital. That upon General Whitelock in 1808, as also the court of enquiry upon the convention of Cintra in 1809, were held in this great hall.

254 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

26 Captains, one of whom acts as serjeant-major.

32 Serjeants.

48 Corporals and drummers.

336 Privates. 34 Light-horsemen.

The number of out-pensioners now amounts to upwards of twenty-three thousand, who are paid at different rates, according to their length of service or particular disability, from five-pence to three shillings and sixpence per day.

The daily and individual allowance of the in-pensioners is one pound of meat, one loaf of bread, weighing twelve ounces, a quarter of a pound of cheese, and two quarts of beer, of the quality of brewers' twenty-shilling beer.

On Wednesdays and Fridays, instead of meat, they have one pint of peas-soup, half a pound of cheese, and two ounces of butter. They have mutton on Sundays and Tuesdays, and beef on the other three days.

They are all annually clothed. Fires are kept in each ward, and they have every attendance that can administer to their comfort. They are also allowed the following weekly pay :— captains, three shillings and sixpence ; Serjeants, two shillings ; corporals and drummers, ten-pence ; privates, eight-pence ; and the light-horse, two shillings.

THE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED BY PATENT.

The President of the Council. The Secretary at War.

The First Lord of the Treasury. The Comptroller of Army Accounts.

The Secretaries of State. The Governor.

The Paymaster-General of the Forces. The Lieutenant-Governor.

ROYAL MILITARY ASYLUM, CHELSEA 255

THE OFFICIAL ESTABLISHMENT.

Governor, the Right Hon. Sir David Dundas, K.B.

Lieutenant-Governor, General Samuel Clerk of the works, John Soane, Esq.

Hulse. Deputy-treasurer, Lieut.-Colonel Wilson.

Major, Lieutenant-Colonel Matthews. Senior chaplain, Rev. Wm. Haggitt, M.A.

Adjutant, Captain Acklom. Junior ditto, Rev. Richard Yates, M.A.

Assistant-adjutant, Captain Duke. Physician, Dr. Benjamin Moseley.

Secretary, George Aust, Esq. Housekeeper, Mrs. Dalrymple.

Surgeon, Thomas Keate, Esq. Master cook, Mr. J. Cock.

Apothecary, R. R. Graham, Esq. Master butler, Mr. Lairne.

Comptroller, Loftus Nunn, Esq. Organist, Dr. Burney. Steward, Val. Fowler, Esq.

Such is this magnificent asylum, which has been erected, for the comfort and repose of the veteran soldier, by the gratitude of his country.

THE EOYAL MILITARY ASYLUM AT CHELSEA

'""" "^HIS establishment is a foundation of justice, humanity, and national policy. The children of the soldier who is actually in the service, who has fought the battles of his country, has been maimed and rendered helpless by the accidents of war, or has fallen in the field, are here received, nurtured, and educated, and, finally, furnished with the means of comfortable provision, and becoming useful to society in the vocation which may be appointed for them.

For this Christian and patriotic purpose, a spacious edifice has

256 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

been erected by the wisdom of government ; which, while it abounds in every kind of appropriate accommodation and com- fort, presents an appearance of simple grandeur ; which, while it displays its character as a charitable institution, discovers, at the same time, that it has been produced by the charity of a great nation. The first stone was laid by his Royal Highness the Duke of York, who first suggested this institution, June 19, 1801.

This noble structure is surrounded with high walls, except in the part opposite the grand front, which is relieved by a range of iron railing. The intervening ground is of considerable extent, and agreeably diversified with lawn and gravel-walks, shaded with trees.

It is built of brick, forms three sides of a quadrangle, and is crowned with a balustrade of stone. The center of the western front is distinguished by a portico, consisting of four large Doric columns, with their entablature, from whence rises a triangular pediment. On the frieze is the following inscription :

THE ROYAL MILITARY ASYLUM FOR THE CHILDREN OF THE SOLDIERS OF THE REGULAR ARMY.

Above this inscription are the imperial arms.

The north and south wings are connected with the principal front by an elegant colonnade, which extends the whole length of the building, and forms a commodious shelter for the children during their hours of recreation in wet weather.

The vestibule is in the center of the principal front of the edifice ; on the north of which are two dining-halls, eighty feet in length and thirty feet in breadth* Near them is a stone chamber, where the boys wash every morning. It is also

ROYAL MILITARY ASYLUM, CHELSEA 257

furnished with a cold bath. Over these halls are two school- rooms of the same dimensions, one of which is fitted up as a chapel. One of these rooms, with its living scenery, is the subject of the plate.

The boys are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. The school hours in the morning are from half past nine till twelve, and from half past two till five in the afternoon. Two trades are already established, with their respective work-shops, viz. shoe- makers and tailors, in which the boys are instructed.

On the south side of the vestibule are the girls' dining-halls, which are of the same dimensions as those of the boys. Adjoining to them is the washing-place for the girls, with a cold bath, &c.

The serjeant-major and quarter-master-serjeant have apartments over the bathing-room of the boys; while the schoolmistress and cook have their apartments over that of the girls.

The committee-room is over the vestibule, where the board meet to transact the business of the establishment.

The north wing is divided into three wards, which are named the King's, the Prince of Wales's, and the Duke of York's wards. It contains the apartments of the commandant and surgeon, with the dormitories for the boys.

The south wing is divided into three wards, which are also named from the royal family, being distinguished as the Queen's, the Princess of Wales's, and the Duchess of York's wards. It comprehends the apartments of the chaplain, quarter-master, matron, and assistant-matron, with the dormitories for the girls.

The clothing of the boys consists of red jackets, blue breeches and stockings, and black leather caps.

The girls wear red gowns, blue petticoats, white aprons, and

III. — S

258 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

straw bonnets. They are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic ; knitting and needle-work of different kinds : they are also constantly employed in the different branches of household work.

The parents are permitted to take back their children whenever they have an opportunity of providing for them : the rest are disposed of in the army. The complement of the children is seven hundred boys and three hundred girls.

This national establishment is supported by the nation, a sum of money being annually voted for that purpose with the army estimates.

The commissioners for the Asylum are,

The Duke of York, Adjutant-General,

The Duke of Kent, Paymaster-General,

The Duke of Cumberland, Bishop of London,

The Duke of Cambridge, Bishop of Winchester,

The Duke of Gloucester, Right Hon. W. Windham,

Lieutenant-General Hewitt, Right Hon. Charles Yorke,

Lieutenant-General Burrard, Mathew Lewis, Esq.

Lieutenant-General De Lancey, Governor of Chelsea Hospital,

Secretary at War, Lieutenant-Governor,

Commander-in-Chief, Judge-Advocate,

Master-General of the Ordnance, Commissary-General,

Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, Deputy Secretary at War,

Commander-in-Chief in Ireland, Chaplain-General. Quarter-Master-General,

259

COVENT-GAKDEN NEW THEATKE

IN a former part of this work, we have given a very correct picture of the interior of the old Covent-Garden Theatre : and it is this view alone, we believe, which will recal its remembrance to those who were acquainted with it, and afford an accurate notion of what it was, to those who never beheld it. The building was discovered to be on fire, after midnight, on the iQth of September, 1808 ; and so irresistible were the flames, that before five o'clock on the following morning, nothing remained but an heap of smoking ruins. The real cause of this fatal catastrophe has never been discovered, nor has even a probable conjecture been formed as to the origin of the conflagration.

This Theatre was soon destined to rise, like the phcenix, from its own ashes, with additional splendour ; and almost before the ruins had ceased to smoke, the renovation was not only projected and planned, but ready for commencement. In less than three months after this scene of destruction, the first stone of the new structure was laid by his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. On the 3ist of December, he was most graciously pleased to perform this ceremonial, which was accompanied with every preparation suited to the occasion, and attended by the Grand Lodge of Free Masons, in honour of their Illustrious Grand Master, who presided at it.

260 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

The foundation-stone, which was placed at the north-east angle of the building, was an oblong block, of near three tons in weight, with all the machinery necessary to suspend it. Military bands of music were stationed around the spot ; the numerous workmen to be employed in the building appeared on scaffolds, and naval and military ensigns were unfurled at each angle of it. Within the area a covered gallery was erected for the company to be admitted on the occasion ; another was prepared for the Masonic body, and a spacious marquee was appropriated to the Prince.

The Grand Lodge of Free Masons, with deputations from the other lodges in the metropolis, proceeded from Free Masons'- Hall, with all due formality, to the scene of the ceremony, at which they assisted.

At one o'clock his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, attended by the Duke of Sussex, General Hulse, and some of the officers of his household, arrived at the Bow-street entrance, where he was received by the Earl of Moira, as deputy grand master, and the proprietors of the Theatre. His arrival was announced by a royal salute of cannon ; the royal standard of England was hoisted, and the patriotic air of " God save the King" was given by the united bands. When the Prince had reached the marquee, Mr. Smirke, the architect, presented a plan of the building, and the ceremonial began.

The stone being raised several feet, his Royal Highness deposited, in a cavity in the basement stone, a brass box, con- taining a large bronze medal, which had the portrait of his Royal Highness on one side, with the following inscription on the reverse :

COVENT-GARDEN NEW THEATRE 261

Georgius, Princeps Walliarum,

Theatri

Regis instaurandi auspiciis, in Hortis Benedictinis,

Londini, fundamenta sua manu locavit. M.DCCCVIII.

Another copper medal of the same size, was engraved with the following inscription :

Under the auspices of

his most sacred Majesty, GEORGE III.

King of the United Kingdoms of Great Britain

and Ireland, the foundation-stone of the Theatre,

Covent-Garden,

was laid by his Royal Highness George, Prince of Wales. M.DCCCVIII.

The box contained also a series of all the gold, silver, and copper coins of the present reign. Six Masons then proceeded to spread the cement, which was completed by the Grand Master, with a gilt silver trowel. The stone was now lowered, and his Royal Highness laid it by giving it three strokes of a mallet. He then poured upon it corn, wine, and oil from three silver goblets. The ceremony was accompanied with another discharge of cannon, the united power of the musical bands, and the acclamations of the spectators. The Prince, after having expressed, in the most gracious manner, his wishes for the prosperity of the undertaking, retired with the formalities which attended his arrival.

The present Theatre is very superior to that whose place it

262 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

supplies. The principal front is in Bow-street. The center is distinguished by a portico supported by four Doric columns of large dimensions, in the style of those which form a part of the temple of Minerva in the Acropolis of Athens. The windows of this front do not extend along the whole of it, but leave sufficient space for projections at either end. In these projections are niches, which give variety and relief to them. Above the windows, in the spaces between the portico and the projections, is a line of basso-relievos ', which diversify the surface. Those in the northern space describe the ancient drama. In the center, are represented three Greek poets, Aristophanes, Menander, and ^schylus. Connected with the former, are Thalia, Polyhymnia, Euterpe, Clio, and Terpsichore : to these are added three Nymphs and Pegasus. Connected with ^schylus, are Bacchus, Minerva, Melpomene, two Furies, Orestes, and Apollo in his chariot. The south space represents the modern drama, the center of which is occupied by Shakspeare and Milton. From the former extend the characters of Caliban, Ferdinand, Miranda, Prospero, with Ariel, Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Duncan, all of which are repre- sented in characteristic positions : to these is added Hecate in a car. Attached to Milton, are Urania, Sampson Agonistes, the two Brothers, Bacchanals, Comus, the enchanted Lady, and two tigers. Tragedy occupies the niche in the southern extremity of the building; that to the north possesses the statue of Comedy. All the figures are marked by their classical attributes, or their dramatic distinctions.

The interior of the Theatre is rather larger than that of the late structure ; and differs from those hitherto constructed, by approaching nearer to a circle. There are three circles of boxes,

COVENT-GARDEN NEW THEATRE 263

with a row of side-boxes above them, on a level with the two- shilling gallery. These upper side-boxes are without roof or canopy. Immediately behind them rise the slips, their fronts forming a perpendicular line with the back of the upper side- boxes. The one-shilling gallery in the center ranges with the fronts of the slips, the whole assuming the circular form, and upholding a range of arches, which support the circular ceiling : the latter is painted to imitate a cupola, in square compartments, in a light relief. The pannels are of a grey colour, with wreaths of honeysuckles, &c. in gold. The box fronts are perpendicular, and their ornaments are painted on canvas, and fixed on the fronts. Each circle is supported by slender reeded pillars, in burnished gold. The covering of the seats is of a light blue.

The stage, in height, breadth, and especially in depth, is of admirable proportions. No boxes, except those over the side- doors, are suffered to intrude upon the proscenium ; on each side of which are two lofty pilasters in scaliogla, with light gilt capitals : between them are the stage-doors and managers' boxes. They support an arch, the segment of a circle, whose sofit, from which the crimson drapery over the curtain is suspended, is painted in light relief. Above is a simple entablature, with the royal arms in the center ; and in each spandrel of the arch is an emblematical, antique, celestial figure, executed in relief. The whole of the frontispiece is finished in the same manner as the cupola. The drop scene represents a temple dedicated to Shakspeare, of admirable design and execution. The Theatre is lighted by patent lamps and elegant chandeliers.

Such is the interior of what may be called the scenic part of Covent-Garden Theatre ; and when our description is compared with the engraved representation which accompanies it, a very

264 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

accurate picture of it will be formed in the mind of the reader who has never seen it.

The principal entrance to the boxes is under the portico in Bow- street. On the left side of the vestibule is the grand staircase, which, with its landing, forms the central third part of an hall, divided longitudinally by two rows of insulated columns, coloured after porphyry. This leads to the anti-room, with porphyry pilasters, and a statue of Shakspeare on a pedestal. The doors on the right open into the box-lobby, which is decorated in a similar manner. There is another entrance from Covent-Garden, by a staircase with a double flight.

The third circle of boxes under the two-shilling gallery were con- trived and elegantly accommodated for private subscribers ; they are twenty-eight in number : but that design has been abandoned.

The royal entrance is by the open court from Hart-street, which will admit the royal carriages to the door of the private staircase that leads to the apartments provided for their Majesties.

The expence attending the erection of this magnificent structure, is stated by the proprietors to have amounted to ;£ 1 50,000. It was opened for public performance on Monday, the 1 8th of September, 1809.

SOUTH-SEA HOUSE.

THE South-Sea Company, for whose accommodation this structure was erected, originated in the following man- ner : — During the glorious war with France in the reign of Queen Anne, there arose a very large arrear of navy, army,

SOUTH-SEA HOUSE 265

victualling, and transport debentures, &c. to the amount of nine million four hundred and seventy-one thousand three hundred and twenty-five pounds, without any established fund for bringing them into a course of regular payment : the consequence was, that they were at a discount of forty, and even fifty per cent. In order, therefore, to create a fund for the regular payment of this large arrear, an act of Parliament was passed, in the year 1711, for making good deficiencies, satisfying the public debts, and erecting a corporation to carry on a trade to the South Seas, &c. By this act, her majesty was empowered to incorporate all the holders of these debentures ; and they were accordingly incorpor- ated by a charter, dated the 8th day of September, 1711, under the title of " The Governor and Company of Merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for encouraging the Fishery." In the year 1715, the capital stock of the company was advanced to ten millions ; and two years after, the interest was reduced from six to five per cent, and the company made a further loan of two millions to government.

In the year 1720, the South-Sea scheme, which has rendered that period so remarkable, originated. The pretence was, to raise a fund for carrying on a trade to the South Seas, &c. The sum necessary for carrying it on, together with the profits that were to arise from it, were divided into shares, for the accommoda- tion of those who chose to become adventurers : and to heighten the allurements of this fallacious and visionary project, the directors engaged to make very large dividends. To such an height did the delirium rise on this delusive prospect of golden advantage, that, between the I4th of April, when the first sub- scription was opened, and the 2d of June following, shares of one

266 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

hundred pounds continued increasing in value, till they attained the price of eight hundred and ninety pounds. From this time to the end of August, the variations were trifling ; but in September the bubble burst, shares sunk to one hundred and fifty pounds, and numbers of all ranks were involved in ruin. Nobles, clergy, merchants, bankers, lawyers, and tradesmen, were involved in this tremendous disaster. The consequences were too shocking to repeat. Parliament, however, interfered, investigated the whole of these nefarious transactions, and passed an act, which com- pelled a considerable number of the directors to disgorge their ill-gotten treasures, for the relief of those whom they had ruined by their avaricious and fraudulent enterprise.

The capital stock, after many reductions, before the year 1733, was then settled, and has continued, without variation, three millions six hundred and sixty-two thousand seven hundred and eighty-four pounds, eight shillings, and sixpence, bearing an interest of three and an half per cent.

The management of this company is vested in a governor, sub- governor, deputy-governor, and twenty- one directors, annually chosen ; but no one is qualified to be governor, his Majesty excepted, unless he is possessed, in his own name and right, of five thousand pounds stock : the sub-governor must have five thousand pounds, the deputy-governor four thousand pounds, and each director two thousand pounds, in these funds.

Every person possessed of five hundred pounds stock, who has been in the actual possession of it six months, is thereby entitled to give one vote at all elections for governors and directors of the company ; two thousand pounds stock entitles them to two votes, three thousand pounds to three votes, and five thousand pounds to four votes.

•3

H

SOUTH-SEA HOUSE

267

The South-Sea House, in which the company transact their affairs, is situate at the north-west corner of Threadneedle-street, at a short distance from the Royal Exchange. It is a large, plain, handsome brick structure, decorated with stone copings, rustic quoins, and window-cases. The entrance is through an enriched gateway, which leads into a piazza, formed of Doric columns. The interior is very commodious ; and the hall, in which the dividends are paid, is a spacious room, and finished in a style of no common elegance, as may be seen in the//<2/£ which represents it.

THE PRESENT DIRECTION.

THE KING, governor.

Charles Bosanquet, Esq. sub-governor.

Benjamin Harrison, Esq. deputy-governor.

DIRECTORS.

Robert Baker, Esq.

Joseph Berens, Esq.

Edward Boehm, Esq.

Edward Coxe, Esq.

Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny,

Bart.

Francis Freeling, Esq. Samuel Robert Gaussen, Esq. Robert Holford, Esq. Charles Thomas Hudson, Esq. John Anthony Noguier, Esq.

Joseph Pace, Esq. Nicholas Pearse, Esq. Henry Peters, Esq. Abraham Pole, Esq. Thomas Vigne, Esq. Charles Raymond Barker, Esq. John Beauclerk, Esq. William Dent, Esq. Job Matthew Raikes, Esq. Stephen Teissier, Esq. William Whitmore, Esq.

268

THE EXCISE-OFFICE

THE original establishment of this mode of taxation was in the year 1643, Dv the Parliament, after its rupture with the crown. It appears from the journals of the House of Commons, that on the 28th day of March, in that year, on the motion of Mr. Pymme, a zealous anti-royalist, a tax was laid on many of the necessaries of life, under the new-invented term of excise. The Parliament at Westminster soon after imposed it on such a number of other commodities, that it might be almost denominated general. Afterwards, when the nation had been accustomed to it for a series of years, the succeeding champions of liberty boldly asserted, "the impost of excise to be the most easy and indifferent levy that could be laid upon the people ; " and accordingly continued it, in direct violation of their most solemn promise, that it should be practised only during the war, through the whole course of the usurpation. On the restoration of King Charles II. a part of it was given to the crown, in the twelfth year of that sovereign, by way of purchase for the feudal tenures and other oppressive parts of the hereditary revenue. The excise laws were considerably extended in the reign of William III. and have continued to increase in that of every succeeding prince. Though the rigorous and summary proceedings necessary for the execution of the excise laws, are not altogether compatible with the temper

THE EXCISE-OFFICE 269

of a free nation, it must be acknowledged, that they form the most economical way of taxing the subject ; the charges of levying, collecting, and managing the excise duties, being considerably less, in proportion, than in other branches of the revenue. It also renders the commodity cheaper to the consumer, than charging it with customs, because it is paid in a later stage, and frequently in that which immediately precedes consumption.

The important business of the Excise-Office was originally carried on in a spacious brick building, which had been the mansion-house of Sir John Frederick, on the south side of the church in the Old Jewry. But, as the increasing concerns of this branch of the revenue required more capacious premises, for the commodious transaction of them, government, in the year 1767, purchased Gresham College of the corporation of London, on the site of which was erected the present Excise-Office, in Old Broad- street, near the Royal Exchange. It is a large stone edifice, and pleases, from the air of strength and propriety which it possesses. The interior is arranged with the utmost attention to the purposes for which it was erected. The apartment which is most worthy of attention, is that which we have selected as the subject of the plate. It is called the Judicial Court ; and here commissioners sit in their judicial capacity, to determine on such cases as are brought before them.

The business of this office is conducted by nine commissioners, under whom are a great number of officers, both within and with- out the house. These receive the duties on beer, ale, and spirituous liquors ; on tea, coffee, and chocolate ; on malt, hops, soap, starch, candles, paper, vellum, parchment, and other exciseable com- modities ; for the surveying and collecting of which duties a great

27o THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

number of out-door officers are employed in different districts, or divisions, throughout the kingdom, to prevent frauds and losses. Before these commissioners all cases of seizure for frauds com- mitted on the several branches of the revenue under their direction, are tried ; and from their determination there is no appeal, except to the commissioners of appeal, who are a part of themselves, for a rehearing.

The increase of the revenue arising from the excise within the last twenty-two years is immense, and requires all the authority of official accounts to render it credible. The payment into this office, from the 5th of January, 1786, to the 5th of January, 1787, was five millions five hundred and thirty-one thousand one hundred and fourteen pounds, six shillings, and ten-pence half- penny. The payment of the year ending in 1809, including what are called the war duties, amounted to twenty-five millions nine hundred and forty-one thousand six hundred and thirty pounds, thirteen shillings, and eight-pence.

COMMISSIONERS.

Martin Whish, Esq. and Robert Lord George Seymour.

Nicholas, Esq. LL.D. chairmen, George Watson, Esq.

William Lowndes, Esq. LL.D. Alexander Campbell, Esq.

Hon. I. L. Olmius. Thomas Burton, Esq. secretary.

Hon. Augustus Phipps. John Vivian, Esq. and Thomas William Jackson, Esq. William Carr, Esq. solicitors.

THE THAMES

THE river that washes the city, whose edificial taste and splendour form the contents of these volumes, is con- sidered as a proper subject to conclude them. The Thames may be inferior, both in its channel and length of course, to many of the continental rivers ; but, in the highly cultivated beauty of its banks, the utility which it confers, and the navigation it bears, surpasses them all.

It takes its rise in a small verdant bottom among the Cotes- would hills, near Cirencester, in the county of Gloucester, bearing the name of the village of Kemble, beneath which it winds its scanty stream, and whose lofty spire enlivens the landscape : it then proceeds an humble rivulet, overshadowed by willows, till it reaches the town of Cricklade, in Wiltshire, where, by the influx of other streams, it is considerably enlarged, and becomes navigable for boats of a very small burthen. At Fairford, in Gloucestershire, a place remarkable for the beautiful painted glass of which the windows of the church are composed, it receives the accession of the Coin ; and at a small distance, with the added contribution of the Lech, at Lechlade, in the same county, it becomes navigable for barges of seventy or eighty tons. In this important character, it still continues in a retired, meandering course, through a country possessing all the variety of wooded

272 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

inclosures, fertile meads, and splendid cultivation ; when, after passing beneath the gentle acclivities of Farringdon, in Berks, and enlivening the scenery of the elegant mansion of Sir Robert Throckmorton, at Buckland, in that county, it reaches Stanton- Harcourt, in Oxfordshire, a place which has been rendered classical, by having been the studious residence of Pope, and where he finished a part of his noble translation of the Iliad. The room remains, in an old house belonging to Earl Harcourt, in which he pursued his immortal labours ; while the church, the burying-place of that noble family, is enriched with the monu- mental poetry of Congreve and of Gay.

The Thames, after making a bold and expansive curve, and reflecting the small remains of Godstow nunnery, the burial-place of the fair, but unfortunate Rosamond, approaches Oxford, where ignorance has long since given it a name, which fancy has adopted. It is there generally called the his ; a denomination fancifully sanctioned by several of our distinguished poets.

Its source is universally known to all the country around it, by the appellation of the Thames Head. It is not only the traditionary, but the geographical and legal title of the spot, as well as of the infant river. In all the ancient deeds, registers, and historical documents connected with this part of Gloucestershire, it is described under no other name. In the old maps laid down by the monks, in which the titles of places are given in the Latin tongue, the course of the river is marked with the term Tamesis fluvius. To these notices it may be added, that the most ancient street in Oxford is called Thames-street. That a river, after a course of some extent, should lose the appellation of the parent spring, and, at a considerable distance onwards, should resume and

THE THAMES 273

retain it to the sea, is an absurdity which could alone prevail from the beautiful poetry which has adopted it. The oozy low ground on one side of Oxford, which is occasionally overflowed by the river, was, in the monkish Latin, called Isis, and was probably transferred to this part of the river itself; and, possessing a more harmonious and classical accent, was patronised by poets, to the exclusion of the original name ; while Prior's pretty derivation, in his charming poem of Henry and Emma, sanctified the notion by the fiction of poetry.

Oxford, with its picturesque magnificence, and interesting beyond what words can convey, from its scientific character, dignifies the Thames, whose silver waves adorn it. The river then winds between the uplands of Oxfordshire and the rich level of Berkshire, till it reflects the overhanging woods and wavy slopes of Nuneham-Courteney, the seat of Earl Harcourt, where the combined taste of Mason, Browne, and the late noble possessor, to whose transcendent virtues and admirable character let this page bear the merited testimony, improved and created so many beauties.

The stream now offers from its bosom a rich, expansive view of the vale of White Horse, to the distant hills which form the boundary of it ; and having approached the town of Abingdon, whose spire is a distinguished and pleasing object in the level country, it makes an abrupt turn towards Shillingford, with its picturesque scenery, which it reflects and enlivens. On its approach to Wallingford, it receives the Tame, which the poet has assigned to be its bride, and to improve its name. The latter is among the inferior rivulets which offer their tributary waters to the Thames, and is very ill suited to such an alliance. Having

III. — T

274 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

passed through the ancient bridge of Wallingford, it winds through a country abounding in a rich variety of wild, cultivated, and highly improved nature. Pretty villages, fine seats, and ornamented grounds, divided by meadow, arable culture, and woody declivities, alternately succeed, till it approaches Reading ; where, at a short distance from that town, it receives the waters of the Kennet ; and continues with an accumulated flow, but without any striking variety of circumstance, till it passes before Park Place, so well known for the variety of its scenery, and the taste with which that amiable and excellent man, the late Marshal Conway, displayed, improved, and adorned it.

At a small distance, the beautiful bridge of Henley, decorated with the sculpture of the Honourable Mrs. Damer, stretches across the river ; which, after presenting itself to the view of Fawley Court, the seat of Mr. Strickland Freeman, glides on to contribute its beauty to a range of country on either side, where nature, in her most pleasing humour, has lavished all her softer charms in an abundant variety ; and where art, which could not increase, has only taken the occasional opportunity to unfold them.

Here, the Thames, as if lingering with delight in its enchanting course, proceeds in a long succession of meanders, till, after passing by Medmenham abbey, the former and celebrated retreat of dissipating conviviality, and Bisham abbey, the scene of other and better comforts, strikes off, in one bold, undeviating line, to Mario w. It now passes between less interesting boundaries, till it gives the nearing view of Hedsor, the seat of Lord Boston, with its fine, undulating domain and sylvan scenery. In three branches, forming spacious islands, it approaches Clifden ; when,

THE THAMES 275

collecting its scattered parts again into one stream, it flows on beneath the wood-clad heights ; and, after reflecting the lesser, but charming acclivities of Taplow, it reaches the ancient town of Maidenhead. It continues to divide the counties of Buckingham and Berks ; and, after washing the low banks of the village of Bray, renowned by a fanciful tradition of a versatile vicar, who never existed there, it reaches Windsor, with its royal castle rising in stately magnificence on one side ; while the lofty spires and antique towers of Eton college appear, amidst academic groves, on the other.

From Windsor bridge the Thames makes a bold curve round the castle to Datchet, and hastens to lave the banks of Runne- mede, the interesting spot where our armed ancestors obtained the charter of that liberty, which their descendants now enjoy in uninterrupted peace and security.

Cooper's Hill, which is here a distinguished and interesting feature of the prospect, is the well-known subject of Sir John Denham's pleasing poem, where the Thames is celebrated with so much descriptive truth, and such beauty of expression.

O could I flow like thee, and make thy stream My great example, as it is my theme ! Tho' deep, yet clear ; tho' gentle, yet not dull ; Strong without rage ; without o'erflowing, full : Heaven her Eridanus no more shall boast, Whose fame in thine, like lesser currents, lost.

Near Chertsey the scenery is without particular attraction ; but beyond the bridge, Woburn Farm, the seat of Mr. Petre, and Ham Farm, the residence of the Earl of Portmore, present their respective beauties. The former was the first example of the

276 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

ferme ornte, which has since been so generally and so successfully followed. Onward is the little village of Shepperton, a favourite resort of the tranquil angler ; and is contrasted by the noble, finely wooded brow of Oatlands, the seat of the Duke of York, on the Surrey side of the stream.

The banks now become more inhabited, and beyond Walton, the Middlesex side of the river is covered with mansions, that display the opulence and taste of their inhabitants. Sunbury succeeds : Hampton then stretches along the Middlesex shore ; and the villa of Garrick, with its garden and temple of the poet of whose immortality he will partake, is the pride of this part of the river. The Surrey side affords little interest or inviting circumstance. Clermont alone distinguishes the distance.

The Thames soon beholds the splendid, but neglected palace of Hampton Court ; and, gliding by the park which forms its domain, and the ornamental gardens and villas of Thames Ditton, it reaches Kingston, in Surrey, one of the most ancient towns seated beside it. At Teddington, an adjacent village, in Mid- dlesex, the stream meets the tide, and forms its alliance with the sea. The river soon reflects the range of beautiful villas and gardens that enrich the banks of Twickenham. Strawberry Hill, the curious villa of the late Earl of Oxford, holds the first place among them ; while Pope's house has been sacrificed to the love of gain, and the willows planted by the poet's hand, which were a commanding decoration of this part of the river, being decayed by time, yielded to the blast, and are seen no more. It will not be thought necessary, we presume, to make any apology for adding the following verses, addressed to Pope's weeping willow, at Twickenham, in 1792 :

THE THAMES 277

Weep, verdant Willow, ever weep,

And spread thy pendent branches round : Oh ! may no gaudy flow'ret creep

Along the consecrated ground ! Thou art the Muses' fav'rite tree ; They lov'd the bard who planted thee.

The wintry blast assails in vain ;

The forked lightning passes by, To stretch the oak upon the plain,

Whose tow'ring branches brav'd the sky : The Muses guard their fav'rite tree ; They lov'd the bard who planted thee.

And oft, 'tis said, at evening hour,

To Fancy's eye bright forms appear To glide beneath the leafy bower,

While music steals on Fancy's ear : The Muses haunt their fav'rite tree ; They lov'd the bard who planted thee.

But all the Muses' tender care

Cannot prolong the final date : Rude time will strip thy branches bare,

And thou must feel the stroke of Fate ; E'en thou, the Muses' fav'rite tree, Must fall like him who planted thee.*

But still the Muse shall hover near ;

And, planted there by hands unseen, Another willow shall appear,

Of pensive form, upon the green ; To grace the spot, when thou no more Shalt overarch the hallow'd shore.

* The event here foretold has since happened, and the tree is no more. A small branch of it, however, has been planted on the spot, and flourishes.

278 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Here the stream, stretching onwards in a silver serpentine, flows before the umbrageous walks of Ham, and beneath the en- chanting brow of Richmond, amid the combined beauties of art and nature. In a short distance it divides the splendid and royal gardens of Richmond, which form a scene of sylvan glory, from the wide-spreading lawns of Sion House ; and having reflected the towers of the palace at Kew, and flowed through the arches of the bridge of the same name, it seems at once to lose its rural character. The shores are not, indeed, without their elegant houses and decorated gardens, but they are intermingled with the various forms of trade and manufacture, and the stream is whitened with the sails which commerce spreads. The song of the bird, the whispering of the reeds, and the carrol of the peasant, are exchanged for the noise of hammers, the roar of mills, and the busy hum of men. The villages are now crowded with the inhabitants of mercantile opulence or active industry ; and between such scenes it continues to flow, with rare intervals of rural life, till it combines with the magnificence of the metropolis. Mortlake, Barnes, Chiswick, Putney, Fulham, Hammersmith, Wandsworth, Battersea, and Chelsea, may be almost considered as so many suburbs of the capital, of whose character they partake. At the latter place, the Thames expands into a larger breadth, and flows with an accelerated current. There the noble edifice of the military hospital dignifies, as it were, its approach to the metropolis ; the first view of which, as it is seen near Lambeth, is represented in the plate which accom- panies this page. It presents a beautiful and superb metropolitan landscape. The river is of a sufficient expanse to be a grand object of itself: Westminster bridge, with its fine arches,

4

! *

o I

"3 I £ "*

THE THAMES 279

stretching across the water in splendid simplicity ; and the edificial group of Westminster Hall, with the abbey and its stately towers rising beyond it, form an union of the picturesque and the magnifi- cent ; and, heightened by the diminutive character of intervening objects, compose a picture, that cannot fail of producing a most impressive effect on the mind, as well as the eye of the beholder.

The scene which is represented in the annexed engraving, is a view of the same nature, but with a different and more extended combination of its parts. The point of view is from the river near Cuper's-stairs. Here Blackfriars bridge, which is seen at a considerable distance, displays its beautiful outline to the greatest advantage, and heightens the effect of the grove of spires and towers which rise beyond it. St. Paul's proudly predominates in the center, while the spire of St. Bride's church agreeably breaks the range of buildings between the cathedral and the grand archi- tectural mass of Somerset-buildings. The tower of the patent shot-manufactory gives a pleasing relief to the Surrey side of the river, and completes the picture.

Westminster bridge is among the finest structures of its kind in the world. It possesses a simple grandeur, that renders it a majestic feature of the Thames. The first stone was laid on the 29th of January 1738-9, by the Earl of Pembroke, who, to the purest taste, added a scientific acquaintance with architecture. It was built after a design of Mr. Labelye, a native of Switzerland, and completed in November, 1747. Its length is 1223 feet, the number of its arches thirteen, and that which forms the center is seventy-six feet wide. The whole cost of it amounted to ,£389,500. Of this sum, .£197,500 was raised by a lottery; the remainder was granted by Parliament.

280 THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

Blackfriars bridge is barely second to that of Westminster, and it merits all the admiration it receives, for the lightness and elegance of its construction. It was built after the design of Mr. Robert Mylne ; and consists of nine arches, the center of which is an hundred feet wide. Its length is nine hundred and ninety-five feet. The first stone was laid on the 3Oth of October, 1760, by Sir Thomas Chitty, Knight, lord mayor of London, and was completed in 1769. Its cost amounted to ,£152,840 35. lod. which, in less than twenty years, was defrayed by a general toll, granted by act of Parliament for that purpose.

The river between Blackfriars and London bridge does not afford the opportunity to give a pleasing picture. The range of wharfs, warehouses, and manufactures, with the crowd of churches behind, some rising high, and others only peeping above the unequal roofs, defy the pencil to convert them into an agreeable whole ; while St. Paul's cathedral is too near to admit of any merit in its representation, but that of similitude. The same observations may, in a great measure, be applied to the scenery of the lower part of the river.

Such is the river Thames, which we have traced from its source till it reaches the metropolis, to whose beauty, health, accommodation, and opulence, it so largely contributes.

THE END

INDEX

Vol. Page I

ACADEMY, Royal, description of

the . . i. 3

— Objects of the institution . 9

— Its annual exhibition . . 10

Admiral, Lord High, some ac- count of his office . . 1 1

Admiralty, description of the . 16

Acts of Parliament termed the

gagging bills, their effect . ii. 3

Albion Mills consumed by fire . 36

Amphitheatre, Astley's, descrip- tion of the . . . i. 19

Anecdote, an Oxford one . 21

— of a mayor of Coventry . 24

Architecture, an account of the

early state of it . . ii. 81

Arts in England during the

middle ages . . 27

Astley, Mr. Philip, a curious

letter of his . . . i. 20

Asylum, the institution, objects

and establishment of the . 25

— Royal Military, at Chelsea,

its description, design, and establishment . . iii. 249

Auction-room, description of

Christie's . . . i. 32

B

Vol. Page

Bank of England, description

of the . . . i. 40

— Its history and establishment 41 Bankrupts, laws relating to them,

&c. . . . ii. 124 Bar, the eloquence of it in Eng- land . ... 8 Barry, James, historical painter,

some account of . . iii. 57

Bartholomew Fair, description of i. 52

— Circumstances relating to it . 59 Bilingsgate, history and descrip- tion of 63

Bill of fare of the dinner given to his present Majesty at Guildhall . . . ii. 107

Bland, Sir John, a gaming anec- dote of him . . . 102

Blue-coat School, or Christ's

Hospital, history of . . i. 69

Board of Trade, an account of

the . . . iii. 190

Bow-street Police-Office, descrip- tion of the . . i. 82

Boydell, Alderman, description of the pictures placed by him in the Common-Coun- cil-Chamber, Guildhall . ii. 115

— A sketch of his life 1 2 1

282

INDEX

Vol. Page

Bridewell, history and descrip- tion of . . . i. 92 Bridge, Westminster . . Hi. 278

— Blackfriars . . . 279 British Forum, circumstances re- lating to it . . . ii. 4

— Regulations of it . 5 Brookes's Subscription -House,

an account of it . . 94

Buchan, Dr., an impromptu of

his . . . . i. 14

Buckingham, Duke of, letter of

the . . . iii. 3

Burke, Edmund, character of

his eloquence . . ii. 10

— Observation of . 3

— His parliamentary compli-

ment to the king . . iii. 12 Burlington, Earl of, anecdote of

him . . . . 2ii

Butcher's company, its great

antiquity

11. 179

Calais, the burghers of, their

conduct to Edward III. . i. 168 Cards, curious account of them ii. 96 Carlton-House, description of . i. 107 Cattle, a table of the number killed in the year 1807, in London, &c. . . ii. 179

Chancellor, Lord High, his office i. 199 Chancellors, Lord High, succes- sion of them . . 197 Chapel, Roman Catholic, Lin- coln's-Inn Fields, descrip- tion of . ii. 114

Vol. Page

Charles II. curious origin of his

statue in Stocks-market . ii. 181

— Excellent laws passed in his

reign . 183

Charters, an account of those

granted to the city . . 114 Chelsea Hospital, history and

description of . . iii. 249

— Particulars of its establish-

ment . . . 253

Chesterfield, Earl of, a bon mot of i. 1 8 Christ's Hospital, description of

it, &c. . 74

Churches, Saxon, when built in

England . . ii. 88

City of London, an account of

its municipal government . 114 City watch, ancient ceremonial

of the . iii. 213

Coal trade, some account of the i. 121 Cockpit, Royal, account of the . 123 Coinage of Great Britain, state- ment of the . . . iii. 195 Coinage of money, its process . ii. 204 Coldbath-Fields Prison, its state

and regulations . . i. 126 College of Physicians, history

of the . . . 131

— Interesting portraits in it . 135

— Its successive charters . 136 Commons, House of, its history

and description . . 183

— Eminent speakers in it . ii. 12 Concert at Amsterdam, curious

account of one . . i. 125 Constitution, English, brief his- tory of it . . 154

INDEX

283

Vol. Pag€

Cooke, observations on his acting ii. 7

Coram, Mr. Thomas, founder of the Foundling Hospital,

some account of him . 62

Corn Exchange, an account of . 13

— Its origin . . . 24

Corn, account of its weekly sale,

&c. for one year . . 16

— Act of Parliament for register-

ing the prices, &c. . . 18

— Exported from England, table

of . . 14

from England and Scot- land . . . . 19

Covent-Garden market, account

of . . . i. 209

— Theatre, description and re-

gulations of it . . 212

— New Theatre . . . iii. 259 Court of Chancery, history of it i. 193

— Common Pleas . . 203

— King's Bench . . . 205

— Exchequer . . . 207 Customhouse, description of . 217 Customs, table of . . 221 Cutler, Sir John, anecdote of . 132

D

Debating Society, account of one 223 Demosthenes, anecdote of . ii. 9

Doctors' Commons, its history

and jurisdiction . . i. 224

Drury-Lane Theatre, description

of 228

Vol. Page

East-India Company, sketch of

its history . . . ii. 141

— Various proceedings in Par- liament relative to its con- cerns and government . 143 Edward VI. his charitable

foundations . . . i. 71

Egyptian Hall, Mansion-House ii. 181 Elliston, his merits as an actor . 7

Eloquence, British, brief account

of it . . . 7

Erskine, Lord, character of his

eloquence . . 12

Exchange, Coal, account of the i. 119 Excise-Office, history of, &c. . iii. 268

Fairs, some account of their

origin, &c. . . i. 54

Fielding, Henry, some account of his character as a magis- trate . . 82

Fires, a list of them during the

year 1807 . . ii. 41

— Different modes proposed for

preventing and extinguish- ing them . 41

Fire-Offices, table of their rates

of insurance . 38

Fish, price of, in the reign of

Edward I. . . . i. 66

Fleet-Ditch, circumstances rela- tive to it . . ii. 46

Fleet Prison, an account of it, &c. 44

— Rules for its regulation . 49

— Foundation of it . . 47

— Fees, a rate of . 55

284

INDEX

Vol. Page

Fleet Prison, discovery of an

ancient gateway . . ii. 59

— The office of warden formerly

of great consequence . 60

Fox, Charles, Right Hon. char- acter of his eloquence . 9 Fox, George, the founder of the sect of Quakers, some ac- count of . . 236 Free Masons' Hall, its origin, &c. 7 9 Free Masons, some account of

them . 80

— Questions, &c. of Henry VI.

respecting them . . 91 Foundling Hospital, its origin

and history . . . 61

— Pictures presented to it . 66

— Manner of admission . . 74

— Treatment of the children . 75 Funds, public, historical sketch

of them . . . iii. 104

Gaming, foreign, edicts against it ii. 99

— English laws respecting it . 100 Gesner, letter from him to his

son at Rome . . 26

Germans, ancient, attached to

gaming . 101

Grain, table of its prices for

fifteen years . . 15

Greenwich Hospital, its history

and description . . iii. 242

— Hall, description of . . 244

— Chapel, ditto . . 246 Grenville, Lord, character of his

eloquence . . . ii. 12

Vol. Page

Greyl, Zachary, his project for

extinguishing fires . . ii. 41

Guildhall, history and descrip-

tion of . 103

— Royal feasts given in it . 106 Gwyn, Nell, anecdote of . . iii. 250

H

Hales, the Rev. Dr., his method

to check the progress of fire ii. 42 Handel, his legacy to the Found-

ling Hospital . . 67

Hartley, Mr. David, his invention

for securing buildings from

taking fire . . 43

Henry VI. his questions, &c.

respecting Masonry . . 91

Heralds' College, history and

description of it . . 125 Heralds, their office and descrip-

tions . . 126

— Their power and jurisdiction 130 Hogarth, his pictures in the

Foundling Hospital . . 66 Holbein, a picture by him in

Bridewell Hospital . . i. 96

Horse-Guards, description of the ii. 206

Hospitals, list of those in London 138

House of Lords, character of . 188

— Description of . . . 189

— Account of an ancient draw-

ing of . . 190

Jane Shore, an account of her

public penance . . iii. 136

Jews, their settlement in Eng-

land 161

INDEX

285

Vol. Page

Jews, historical sketch of that

people . . . iii. 163

— Decree of the French govern- ment respecting them . 165

India, East, history of its com- merce with Europe . . ii. 139

Inigo Jones, his principal works 89

Insurance-offices, an account of

them . 37

Institution, British, account of

the . . . i. 98

K

Kemble, criticisms on his acting ii. 6 King, the, his political attributes 189 King's Bench Prison, an ac- count of . 161

Lambeth Palace, historical and

descriptive account of it . 163

— Hospitalities of several of the

archbishops of Canterbury 168

— Endangered by the riots in

1780 . . . 172

— A daring robbery committed

there . . . 172

Lavoisier, the French chemist,

circumstance of his death . i. 145 Leadenhall market, its ancient

and present state . . ii. 176 Leather, its great value as a

staple commodity . . 180 Letters, remarkable ones from

naval officers . . i. 15

Lincoln's-Inn Hall,descriptionof 1 93 Long room, Customhouse, de- scription of . . . 218

Vol. Page

Lords, House of, eminent

speakers in it . . ii. 12

Lotteries, history of . . 193

— Statutes relating to them . 194 Lloyd's coffee-house, account of 174

M

Macaulay, Mrs., the historian, her statue placed in St. Stephen's, Walbrook . iii. 210

Magdalen-House, history and

description of the . . ii. 196

Mansion-House of the lord

mayor . . . 181

Meal-weighers, their office in

the city of London . . 18

Market, new seed and corn, an

account of it . . 24

Medicine, observations on the

practice of . . . i. 139

Mews, the King's, an account of ii. 162

Middlesex Hospital, the descrip- tion of . 133

— The first that received lying-

in women . . . 134

— Its regulations . 136 Mint, history of the . . 202 More, Sir Thomas, anecdote of i. 197 Museum, British, history and

description of . . 101

N

Newgate, history and description

of . . . ii. 208

O

Old Bailey, account of the . 211 Opera-House, Haymarket . 213

286

INDEX

Vol. Paft

Painters in water colours, society

of, its constitution . . ii. 32 Palmer, Mr., his improvements

in the Post-Orifice . . 229 Pantheon, Oxford-street . . 215 Parliament, British, eloquence

of it . . 9

Paving of London, anecdote

respecting it . . i. 151

Philanthropic Society, account

of the . . . ii. 217

Picture-dealers, observation on . i. 33

— maker, the curious bill of one 35 Pillory, account of that punish- ment . . ii. 226

Pitt, William, Right Hon. char- acter of his eloquence . 9

Police of London, proposed im- provements in it . . i. 85

— of Paris, an extraordinary

proof of its vigilance . 89

Poor laws, brief statement of

them . . . iii. 240

Portrait -painting, encourage- ment given to it in England ii. 28 Post-Office, General, history and

description of the . . 227 Post-Office, Two-penny . . 235 Pulpit, the eloquence of it in

England . . 8

Quakers, account of the sect so

called . . . 236

Queen's Palace, description of

the . . . iii. i

Vol, Page

Religion, the Catholic, favour- able to the arts . . ii. 28

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, his excel- lence as a painter con- sidered . . . i. 6

Riots in 1780, brief account of

the . . . . 115

Royal Circus, description of the iii. 13

— Account of principal theat-

rical performers produced by it. . . 16

Royal Exchange, foundation of

the . . 17

— Visited by Queen Elizabeth 18

— Description of . . 20 Royal Institution, origin and

description of the . . 27

— Its professors . . 37

Sadler's Wells, description of . 37 St. James's Palace, history and

description of . . 107

— Park, ditto . . . 116 St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics,

history and description of . 119 St. Margaret's Church, West- minster . . . 124 St. Martin's in the Fields . 128 St. Paul's Cathedral, its ancient

history . . . 131 History and description of

the present structure . 139

— Its dimensions . . 151 St. Stephen Walbrook . . 208 Selwyn, George, a bon mot of . i. 17

INDEX

287

Vol. Page

Sessions -House, in the Old

Bailey, description of the ii. 211

— Clerkenwell, history and de-

scription of the . . iii. 42 Sheridan, R. B., character of

his eloquence . . ii. n

Siddons, Mrs., her eulogium . 7

Smithfield, ancient account of . i. 55

— Tournaments held there . 56 Society of Agriculture, the insti- tution of the . . iii. 73

— National advantages derived

from it . . . 77

Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, origin of the . 47

— Distribution of its premiums 48

— Regulations for its govern-

ment . 49

— Subjects for its premiums . 53

— The national advantages de-

rived from it . . 58

— Description of the paintings

which decorate the great room . 67

Somerset-House, history of . 86

— Royal personages who re-

sided in it . . . 87 - Description of its present state 92 South-Sea House, history of, &c. 264 Stanhope, Earl, his method for securing buildings from tak- ing fire . ii. 43 Stamp-Office, account of the . iii. 99 Stock-Exchange, origin of the . 101 Stocks-market, curious anecdote

of it . ii. 181

Student at law, of Poitiers, in

France, anecdote of . Synagogue in Duke's-place Surrey Institution, the design, regulations, and description of the

Tattersall's Repository

Temple, the ancient history and present constitution of the

Thames, River, its course de- scribed

Tower of London, antiquity of the . . .

— Its executions and murders .

— Description of it

Trade of Great Britain, brief

history of the

Trinity-House, institution of the Truschessian Gallery, the fate of

the .

Vol. Page

ii. i iii. 161

154

170

173 271

179 181

190 198

Vauxhall, the origin and descrip- tion of . . iii. 202

Verrio, a picture by him in

Christ's Hospital . . i. 76

Vyner, Sir Robert, anecdote of ii. 230

W

Wagers, account of some very

curious ones . 95

Warwick-lane, the origin of its

name . . . i. 131

Watch-house of St. James's

parish . . . iii. 213

288

INDEX

Vol. Page

Water Colours, paintings in, cir- cumstances respecting them ii. 29 - Exhibition of . . 30

— Associated artists in . 35

Their constitution . . ib.

Westminster Abbey, the founda- tion and description of . iii. 223

Westminster Hall, its history

and uses . . 233

West India Docks, the establish- ment and great utility of the 217

Vol. Pa

Whitehall Chapel, history and

description of . . iii. 237

Wilson, his pictures in the

Foundling Hospital . . ii. 67

Winkelman, Abbe, his observa-

tions on the English genius 25

Workhouse of St. James's parish, its establishment and regu- lations . . . iii. 241

Wren, Sir Christopher, his

epitaph . . . 153

PLYMOUTH WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON, PRINTERS

THE MICROCOSM OF LONDON

OR

LONDON IN MINIATURE VOL. III.

WITH 40 COLOURED PLATES BY

PUGIN & ROWLANDSOX

Methuen and Co. , London

DA Microcosm of London

683

M53

v.3

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

1