London and its Environs, By Anonymous--A Project Gutenberg eBook

IT is hoped that the great variety of new, useful, curious and entertaining articles which will be found in the following work, will entitle it to a favourable reception from the public. No pains nor expence have been spared to give it as much accuracy and perfection as the nature of such a work will admit of. And though we do not flatter ourselves that it will be absolutely free from errors or imperfections, yet we doubt not but the candid reader will find so much to commend, that he will easily be inclined to excuse some unavoidable deficiencies.

The Environs of London, though they contain many of the most remarkable seats and places in the kingdom, have never before been included in any account of that metropolis; and we are persuaded, that the most intelligent enquirer will here find numberless curiosities, not hitherto taken notice of by any other writers: besides, we have not only been particular in our descriptions of whatever is remarkable twenty miles round; but to assist his observation, we have added a map, which we flatter ourselves will be found to have some advantages over any other that has yet appeared. This map, and these descriptions, will serve both as a guide and an instructor to the travelling Virtuosi, whether natives or foreigners, in their little excursions to any part of these delightfully adorned and richly cultivated environs.

In order to render the knowledge of this metropolis as complete as possible, we have necessarily been obliged, in conformity with our plan, to treat of what may to some appear little and uninteresting, as well as of what is great and important. Among these the citizens are particularly interested in knowing the extent and limits of the wards in which they reside: and it was absolutely necessary to mention in their proper places all the several companies that compose their whole body: and as every inhabitant of the kingdom may, at one time or another, have occasion to visit or write to their friends or relations residing in this great city, the names and situation of all the several streets, lanes, rows, courts, yards and allies could not be omitted. With regard to these an ingenious gentleman has furnished us with a key, which has let us into the origin of many of their names; and this part of our work is farther illustrated by a new and correct plan.

The prints with which the whole is decorated, are all engraved by the best hands, after original drawings, which were taken on purpose for this work, from the several objects themselves, at a very great expence; and we imagine they will not only be considered as an ornament, but that they will be found of use in illustrating the verbal descriptions.

We beg leave in this place to make our grateful acknowledgments to several of the nobility and gentry, who have been pleased to favour us on this occasion with lists and accounts of their pictures, curiosities, &c. which have greatly enriched and added a value to our work; and being entirely new, cannot but be acceptable to the public.

† Those with this mark generally derived their name from the ground landlord, who built the street, lane, or alley, &c.

§ From their situation, as backwards, forwards, with respect to other streets.

ABBEY Church of St. Peter’s, Westminster. Many have been the fables invented and propagated by the monks, relating to the original foundation of this ancient edifice; but the most probable account is given by those who place it under Sebert, King of the East Saxons, who died in 616. These say, that this Prince being converted to christianity by Austin’s discourses, and his uncle Ethelbert’s example, erected this church on the ruins of a temple dedicated to Apollo, in the island of Thorney, and caused Mellitus, Bishop of London, to consecrate it to St. Peter.

As many ridiculous miracles have been related of its foundation, it is the less surprizing that its dedication should also be represented as miraculous, and that St. Peter himself, five hundred years after his decease, should be represented by the monks, as doing honour to the new fabric, by performing the ceremony himself. For according to the legend, the King having ordered Mellitus to perform the ceremony, St. Peter over-night called upon Edricus, a fisherman, and desired to be ferried over to Thorney, which happened to be then overflowed by the heavy rains that had lately fallen; the fisherman consented, and having carried over the Apostle, he saw him consecrate the church amidst a grand chorus of celestial music, and a glorious appearance of heavenly lights. After which the Apostle returning, discovered himself to the fisherman, and bid him tell Mellitus what he had heard and seen, and as a proof of his divine mission, gave him a miraculous draught of salmon, and then assured him, that none of his profession should ever want that kind of fish in the proper season, provided they made an offering of the tenth fish for the use of the new church; which custom, it seems, was continued by the fishermen four hundred years after.

This church and its monastery were afterwards repaired and enlarged by Offa, King of Mercia, but being destroyed by the Pagan Danes, they were rebuilt by King Edgar, who endowed them with lands and manors, and in the year 969 granted them many ample privileges.

The church and monastery having again suffered by the ravages of the Danes, were again rebuilt by Edward the Confessor, who pulled down the old church, and erected a most magnificent one, for that age, in its room, in the form of a cross, which afterwards became a pattern for that kind of building. The work being finished in the year 1065, he caused it to be consecrated with the greatest pomp and solemnity, and by several charters not only confirmed all its ancient rights and privileges, but endowed it with many rich manors, and additional immunities: ordained that all its lands and possessions, should be subject to none but its own jurisdiction, and the convent be free from the authority of the Bishop of London; and the church, by a bull of Pope Nicholas I. was constituted the place for the inauguration of the Kings of England. In short, he gave it a charter of sanctuary, in which he declares, that any person whatsoever, let his crimes be ever so great, who takes sanctuary in that holy place, shall be assured of life, liberty, and limbs, and that none of his ministers, nor those of his successors, should seize any of his goods, lands or possessions, under pain of everlasting damnation, and that whoever presumed to act contrary to this grant, should lose his name, worship, dignity, and power, and with the traitor Judas, be in the everlasting fire of hell. This was the pious language of St. Edward the Confessor, and from this charter, Westminster Abbey became an asylum for traitors, murderers, robbers, and the most abandoned miscreants, who lived there in open defiance of the laws.

This, and King Edward’s other charters, in which he recites the ridiculous story of its consecration by St. Peter, as above related, its destruction by the Danes, the grants and privileges of his predecessors, and those bestowed by himself, drew people thither from all parts, so that in a short time there was not sufficient room in the Abbey church for the accommodation of the numerous inhabitants, without incommoding the monks; he therefore caused a church to be erected on the north side of the monastery, for the use of the inhabitants, and dedicated it to St. Margaret.

William the Conqueror, to shew his regard to the memory of his late friend King Edward, no sooner arrived in London, than he repaired to this church, and offered a sumptuous pall, as a covering for his tomb; he also gave fifty marks of silver, together with a very rich altar cloth, and two caskets of gold; and the Christmas following was solemnly crowned there, his being the first coronation performed in that place.

The next Prince who improved this great work, was Henry III. who in the year 1200 began to erect a new chapel to the blessed Virgin; but about twenty years after, finding the walls and steeple of the old structure much decayed, he pulled them all down, with a design to enlarge, and rebuild them in a more regular manner; but he did not live to accomplish this great work, which was not compleated till 1285, about fourteen years after his decease. And this is the date of the building as it now stands.

About the year 1502, King Henry began that magnificent structure which is now generally called by his name; for this purpose, he pulled down the chapel of Henry III. already mentioned, and an adjoining house called the White Rose Tavern; this chapel, like the former, he dedicated to the blessed Virgin, and designing it for a burial place for himself and his posterity, he carefully ordered in his will, that none but those of royal blood should be permitted to lie there.

At length on the general suppression of religious houses, the Abbey was surrendered to Henry VIII. by William Benson, the Abbot, and seventeen of the monks, in the year 1539, when its revenues amounted to 3977l. 6s. 4d. ¾ per annum, a sum at least equal to 20,000l. a year at present. Besides its furniture, which was of inestimable value, it had in different parts of the kingdom, no less than two hundred, and sixteen manors, seventeen hamlets, and ninety-seven towns and villages. And tho’ the Abbey was only the second in rank, yet in all other respects it was the chief in the kingdom; and its Abbots having episcopal jurisdiction, had a seat in the house of Lords.

The Abbey thus dissolved, that Prince erected first into a college of secular Canons, under the government of a Dean, an honour which he chose to confer on the last Abbot. This establishment, however, was of no long duration, for two years after he converted it into a bishopric, which was dissolved nine years after by Edward VI. who restored the government by a Dean, which continued till Mary’s accession to the crown; when she, in 1557, restored it to its ancient conventual 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, a Schoolmaster, Usher, and forty Scholars, denominated the Queen’s, to be educated in the liberal sciences preparatory to the university, and to have all the necessaries of life, except cloathing, of which they were to have only a gown every year. To this foundation also belong choristers, singing-men, an organist, twelve almsmen, &c.

The Abbey church, which was stripped of many of its decorations by Henry VIII. and was much damaged both within and without during the unhappy civil commotions that defaced the ancient beauty of most of the religious houses in this kingdom, has continued from the death of Henry VII. almost to the present time, without any other considerable repairs, and was gradually falling to ruin, when the Parliament interposed, and ordered a thorough reparation at the national expence.

This venerable fabric has been accordingly new coated on the outside, except that part called Henry the Seventh’s chapel, which is indeed a separate building: and the west end has been adorned with two new stately towers that have been lately rebuilt, in such a manner as to be thought equal in point of workmanship to any part of the ancient building; but though such pains have been taken in the coating, to preserve the ancient Gothic grandeur, that this church in its distant prospect has all the venerable majesty of its former state, yet the beautiful carving with which it was once adorned, is irretrievably lost; the buttresses, once capped with turrets, are now made in plain pyramidical forms, and topped with freestone; and the statues of our ancient Kings that formerly stood in niches, near the tops of those buttresses, are for the most part removed, and their broken fragments lodged in the roof of Henry the Seventh’s chapel. Three of these statues are still standing next the towers on the north side, and indeed that is the only side where you can take a view of the Abbey, the other side being so incumbered with buildings, that even its situation cannot be distinguished.

What next to the new towers principally engages the attention on the outside, is the Gothic portico which leads into the north cross, which by some has been stiled the Beautiful, or Solomon’s Gate. This was probably built by Richard II. as his arms carved in stone was formerly over the gate. It has been lately beautified, and over it is a new window admirably well executed. Besides these there is little in the outward appearance capable of engaging the attention, and its principal beauties are to be found within.

The author of the work entitled English Architecture, seems to prefer the Gothic to the Grecian architecture, as most suited to the purposes of devotion, and gives this edifice as an instance, “There is in it, says he, a majesty and grandeur, a sedate, and if we may so speak, religious dignity, which immediately strikes the imagination; and never failed to impress on the most insensible observer, that holy awe which should attend, and which always disposes the mind to devotion.” But this holy awe, thus mechanically incited, would be as friendly to Paganism as to Christianity; and indeed, this awe is so far from being holy, that it is a thing entirely distinct from rational piety and devotion, and may be felt without any inclination to enter the choir.

Indeed the multiplicity of puerile ornaments profusely lavished, the strong and beautiful perspective, and that romantic air of grandeur so visible in this structure, and above all the height of the middle isle at our first entrance, fill the eye, strike us in a very forcible manner, and at once raise our admiration and astonishment. To which let it be added, that the ranges of venerable monuments on each hand, some of them most magnificent, have a natural tendency to strike the mind with an uncommon degree of solemnity, and to raise the most serious reflections.

The extent of the building is very considerable; for it is 360 feet within the walls, at the nave it is 72 feet broad, and at the cross 195. The Gothic arches and side isles are supported by 48 pillars of grey marble, each composed of clusters of very slender ones, and covered with ornaments. The moment you enter the west door the whole body of the church opens itself at once to your view, the pillars dividing the nave from the side isles being so formed as not to obstruct the side openings, nor is your sight terminated to the east, but by the fine painted window over Edward the Confessor’s chapel, which anciently, when the altar was low, and adorned with the beautiful shrine of that pretended saint, must have afforded one of the finest prospects that can be imagined.

The pillars are terminated to the east by a sweep, enclosing the chapel of Edward the Confessor, in a kind of semicircle. And it is worthy of observation, that as far as the gates of the choir, the pillars are filletted with brass, but all beyond with stone. Answering to the middle range of pillars, there are others in the wall, which as they rise, spring into semiarches, and are every where met in acute angles by their opposites, and meeting in the roof are adorned with a variety of carvings. On the arches of the pillars are galleries of double columns fifteen feet wide, covering the side isles, and enlightened by a middle range of windows, over which there is an upper range of larger windows, and by these, together with the four capital windows, facing the north, east, south and west, the whole fabric is so admirably enlightened, that in the day you are never dazzled with its brightness, nor incommoded by its being too dark. But before we leave these capital windows, which are all finely painted, it is necessary to observe, that in the great west window is a curious painting of Edward III. to the left of which in a smaller window is a painting of one of our Kings, supposed to be Richard II. but the colours being of a water blue the features of the face cannot be distinguished. On the other side the great window is a lively representation of Edward the Confessor in his robes, and under his feet are painted his arms. At the bottom of the walls between the pillars are shallow niches, arched about eight or ten feet high, on which the arms of the original benefactors are depicted, and over them are their titles, &c. but these are almost all concealed by the monuments of the dead placed before them, many of which are extremely noble, and which we shall particularly examine after having gone through the several parts of the edifice.

After viewing the open part of the church, the next thing to be seen is the choir, which can only be done during the times of divine service. The grand entrance into it is by a pair of fine iron gates, on each side of which is a very magnificent tomb. The floor is paved with the finest black and white marble. The ancient stalls are covered with Gothic acute arches, supported by small iron pillars, and are painted purple; but what is most worthy of observation, is an ancient portrait near the pulpit, of Richard II. sitting in a gilt chair, dressed in a green vest flowered with gold, with gold shoes powdered with pearls. This piece is six feet eleven inches in length, and three feet seven inches in breadth; but the lower part is much defaced.

The next thing worthy of observation is the fine altar enclos’d with a curious balustrade, within which is a pavement of mosaic work, laid at the expence of Abbot Ware, in the year 1272, and is said to be one of the most beautiful of its kind in the world: the stones of which it is composed are porphyry, jasper, lydian and serpentine. The altar is a beautiful piece of marble, removed from Whitehall, and presented to this church by order of her majesty Queen Anne. On each side of the altar are doors, opening into St. Edward’s chapel.

Of the several Chapels in Westminster Abbey. Besides that of Henry VII. which, as we have already observed, is a separate building, and will therefore be mentioned by itself when we have finished our survey of the Abbey, there are ten chapels, round that of St. Edward the Confessor, which stands as it were in the center, and, as has been said, is inclosed in the body of the church, at the east end of the choir, behind the altar; these, beginning from the north cross, and passing round to the south cross, are in the following order: St. Andrew’s, St. Michael’s, St. John the Evangelist’s, Islip’s chapel, St. John the Baptist’s, St. Paul’s, Henry the Fifth’s, St. Nicholas’s, St. Edmund’s, and St. Benedict’s.

The Chapel of St. Edward. The first curiosity that here fixes our attention, is the ancient shrine erected by Henry III. upon the canonization of Edward King of England, the third of that name before the conquest, and the last of the Saxon race; a Prince who owed the title of Confessor and Saint, to the vast sums he bestowed on the church, and the sollicitations of the monks, than to his own personal merit: for he was a bad son, a bad husband, and so bad a king, that he shewed greater favour to the Normans than to his own people, and by his folly prepared the way for the conquest. He died in the year 1066, and was canonized by Pope Alexander III. in 1269. This shrine, which was once esteemed the glory of England, is now much defaced and neglected. It was composed of stones of various colours, beautifully enriched with all the cost that art could devise. No sooner was it erected, than the wealth of the kingdom flowed to it from all quarters. Henry III. set the first example, though he afterwards made use of the jewels and treasure he offered there, to defray the charges of an expedition into France. Before this shrine was a lamp kept continually burning, on one side stood a silver image of the blessed Virgin, which with two jewels of immense value, were presented by Queen Eleanor, the wife of Henry III. on the other side stood another image of the Virgin Mary, wrought in ivory, presented by Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Here also Edward I. offered the Scots regalia and chair, in which the kings of Scotland used to be crowned, which is still preserved and shewn to all strangers. And about the year 1280, Alphonso, third son to the last mentioned king, offered here the golden coronet of Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, and other jewels; but it would almost fill a volume to enumerate the offerings made at this shrine. Yet it is now so stripped as to afford no satisfaction, except to the curious; however some of the stone-work with which it is adorned, is still to be seen. This stone-work is hollow within, and now incloses a large chest, which Mr. Keep, soon after the coronation of James II. found to contain the remains of St. Edward; for it being broken by accident, he discovered a number of bones, and turning them up, found a crucifix, richly ornamented and enamell’d with a gold chain of twenty inches long, both which he presented to his Majesty, who ordered the bones to be replaced in the old coffin, and enclosed in a new one made very strong, and clamp’d with iron.

On the south side of this shrine lies Editha, daughter to Goodwyn, Earl of Kent, and Queen to St. Edward, with whom she lived eighteen years, and tho’ she was the most accomplished woman of that age, confessed on her death-bed, that he suffered her to live and die a virgin; and, as an ancient manuscript in the Cotton library has it, “nathelees, tho’ the Kinge had a wyfe, he lived ev’moe in chastete, and clennes, wythowten any fleshley dedes doynge wyth his wyfe the Queen, and so dyd the Queen on her syde.” She survived her husband eight years, and beheld all the miseries consequent upon his dying without issue. She was however treated with great respect by William the Conqueror, who allowed her an apartment in the King’s palace at Winchester, where she died, and was interred here, by his express orders.

Near the remains of this Princess lie those of Queen Maud, surnam’d the Good, the daughter of Malcolm Conmair, King of Scotland, to whom she was espoused, in order to unite the Saxon and Norman lines, and thereby to reconcile the affections of the English to the future Kings that should spring from them. She died on the 11th of May 1118. This excellent Princess was distinguished by her many virtues, particularly her humility, and her placing her chief delight in relieving the poor.

On the north side of this chapel is the tomb of Henry III. the pannels are of polish’d porphyry, and around them is mosaic work of gold and scarlet. At the corners of the table are twisted pillars, gilt, and enamell’d, and upon it is placed the effigy of that King in brass gilt, finely executed. He died in 1272, aged 65, after a troublesome reign of 56 years.

At the feet of the last mentioned Prince lies the effigy of Eleanor, Queen to Edward I. On the sides of this monument are engraven the arms of Castile and Leon, quarterly, and those of Ponthieu, hanging on vines and oak-trees, and round the copper verge is embossed this inscription in Saxon characters;

It is remarkable, that the body of this Queen was only interred here, and that her heart was placed in the choir of the friars predicants in London.

There is also here a large plain coffin of grey marble, composed of seven stones, four of which form the sides, two the ends, and one the cover. This rough unpolished tomb incloses the body of the glorious King Edward I. just mentioned, who was born on the 17th of June 1239. He was named Edward, in honour of Edward the Confessor, and afterwards surnamed Long Shanks, from his tall and slender habit of body. This brave Prince died on the 7th of July 1307, aged 68.

In this chapel is a tomb of black marble, to the memory of Philippa, the third daughter to William Earl of Hainault, and Queen to King Edward III. who bestowed a profusion of expence on her tomb, round which were placed as ornaments, the brazen statues of no less than thirty Kings, Princes, and noble personages her relations.

Tho’ Edward III. was interred in the same grave as the Queen, he has a monument erected for him adjoining to hers, covered with a Gothic canopy. The effigy of this Prince, who died June 21, 1377, lies on a tomb of grey marble, and at his head are placed the shield and sword carried before him in France: the latter is seven feet long, and weighs eighteen pounds. This tomb was, like the former, surrounded with statues, particularly with those of his children.

Next to this is the tomb of Richard II. and his Queen, over which is a canopy of wood, remarkable for a painting of the Virgin Mary and our Saviour still visible. This Prince was murdered on Valentine’s day 1399, and on the robing of his effigy are curiously wrought, peascod shells open, and the peas out, perhaps in allusion to his being once in full possession of sovereignty, which before his murder, was reduced to an empty title.

Between St. Edward’s shrine, and the tomb of Queen Philippa, under a large stone, once plated with brass, lies the great Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, and uncle to the above Richard II. who murdered him on the 8th of September, 1397, for being too free and too faithful a monitor.

Here is also a table monument in memory of Margaret, daughter to Edward IV. by his Queen Elizabeth Woodville; and a small monument of black Lydian marble finely polished, in memory of Elizabeth Tudor, the second daughter of Henry VIII who died at three years of age.

Henry the Fifth’s Chapel, is only parted from St. Edward’s by an iron screen, on each side of which are statues as big as the life. His monument, which is surrounded with iron rails and gates, is of black marble, and upon it is placed his statue; but what is very remarkable, it lies without the head. Your guides say, that the body is heart of oak, and the head of beaten silver; as were also the scepter and other ensigns of royalty with which this statue was adorned; but that the value of these occasioned their being sacrilegiously taken away. This is by some writers represented at a ridiculous tale. Over this tomb is a chauntry chapel, in which the weapons, armour, and caparisons of Henry V. were carefully laid up, and remain to this day.

Near this tomb lies enclosed in an old wooden chest, the remains of Catharine, daughter of Charles VI. King of France, and the consort of Henry V. She died on the 2d of January 1437, and was honourably interred in the chapel erected by Henry III. but when her grandson Henry VII. pulled down that to build his own chapel, her body was taken up, when the bones appeared firmly united, and thinly covered with flesh; but the coffin being decayed, was put into a wooden chest, and removed to the place where it is now seen. This is the account given by those who shew this venerable dust, the miserable remains of a lady of royal blood, and of distinguished beauty.

The Chapel of St. Andrew, which is next the northern cross, has in the center a magnificent monument erected to the memory of Sir Francis Norris, ancestor to the late Sir John Norris. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth he distinguished himself by his bravery in the Low Countries, and was created Lord Norris of Rycot. This monument has a fine representation of an encampment in relief, and is otherwise beautifully ornamented; but has no inscription.

Against the east wall is a table monument to the memory of Sir John Burgh, who was killed in 1594, in taking a large Spanish ship, laden with gold, silver and jewels of inestimable value.

In one corner is an ancient monument of Robert Kirton, that has several labels in black letters round his portrait, which rests upon eagles crowned. He died Oct. 3, 1466.

St. Michael’s Chapel has only one monument worthy of notice, which is that of Sarah, Duchess of Somerset; and mother to the last Duke of that branch of the family. On the base sit two charity boys, one on each side, lamenting the loss of their great benefactress, who is represented resting upon her arm, under a canopy of state, and looking earnestly upon a group of cherubims, issuing from the clouds above her. Underneath is a Latin inscription, enumerating her many charitable foundations, and informing us that this excellent Lady died on the 5th of September 1692.

St. John the Evangelist’s Chapel, has in the center a curious monument to Sir Francis Vere, a gentleman of the first reputation for learning and bravery, who particularly distinguished himself at the battle of Newport, in which he commanded in front under Prince Maurice, in the service of the States, against the Spaniards. This great warrior was 30 years in the Dutch service, and in 20 of them commanded the auxiliary troops of England. He died on the 28th of August 1608, in the 54th year of his age. His monument is a table supported by four knights kneeling, on which lie the several parts of a complete suit of armour, and underneath the effigies of Sir Francis, lying, as if undressed, in a loose gown, on a quilt of alabaster. On the base is a short Latin inscription in gold letters, shewing to whom it belongs; that he was nephew to the Earl of Oxford, and Governor of Portsmouth and the Brille, and that his disconsolate widow consecrated this monument to his memory.

Close to the wall is a monument of Sir George Hollis, nephew to Sir Francis Vere, and a Major General under him. On the pedestal is represented the siege of a town in relief, where the principal figure is a General on horseback holding a battoon, and having one eye blemished, perhaps alluding to the siege of Newport, in which Sir George also gained great honour, and had a horse killed under him. On each side of this pedestal sits a Pallas, lamenting the death of the great warrior, who is represented above in the Roman habit, standing erect upon a lofty altar, with a cherub supporting the plinth on which he stands. Sir George died in January 1626. An ingenious author speaking of this monument, says, that Sir George was the first erect figure set up in the Abbey; “an attitude, says he, which I am far from discommending, for ’tis my opinion, statues should always represent life and action: ’tis peculiarly adapted to heroes, who ought never to be supposed at rest, and should have their characters represented as strong as possible: this before us is bold and manly, though not chaste and elegant: ’tis finely elevated too, and the mourning Pallases, at the base of it, are both well fancied and well applied.”

Near Sir Francis’s tomb is that of Aubery de Vere, the last Earl of Oxford of that name, and Lieutenant-General of Queen Anne’s forces, who died March 12, 1702.

In this chapel there are also some antique monuments; particularly on the right hand, is that of John de Eastney, one of the Abbots, who was a great benefactor to this church, and died on the 4th of May 1438. A brazen statue of this Abbot in his mass habit, lies upon his tomb. It is remarkable, that in breaking up a grave about thirty years ago, his body was discovered in a coffin quilted with yellow sattin, having on a gown of crimson silk, girded round him with a black girdle; on his legs were white silk stockings, and over his face a clean napkin doubled up, and laid corner wise. His body and legs are said to have been plump and firm, but his face somewhat discoloured.

There is likewise here the monument of Sir John Harpedon, Knt. who died in 1457. He lies in armour, resting his feet on a lion, and his head on a greyhound.

St. Erasmus’s, or Islip’s Chapel, has but two monuments worthy of notice; the first that of John Islip, Abbot of Westminster, the founder of this chapel, which he dedicated to St. Erasmus. It is adorned with much carving in devices, intaglios, and febuses, alluding to the name of the founder, as a person slipping boughs off a tree; an eye with the slip of the tree; and a youth sliding from a bough, with I slip, in a label proceeding out of his mouth. In the middle is Islip’s tomb which is a plain marble table, supported by four small brass pillars; over it was anciently painted on the roof, a picture of our Saviour on the cross. He died in January 1510.

The other is the tomb of Sir Christopher Hatton, son to Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor of England. The principal figures are a knight in armour, and a lady in deep mourning resting on the ascending sides of a triangular pediment, parted in the middle by a trunkless helmet. Over their heads is a neat piece of architecture, in the center of which is a scroll with their arms, held up by naked boys, one of whom holds an extinguished torch reversed over the Knight, to shew that Sir Christopher died first; the other over the Lady holds his torch upright and burning, to signify that she survived him. The inscription informs us, that Sir Christopher died on the 10th of September 1619.

Over this chapel is a chauntry, in which are two large wainscot presses, filled with the effigies of Princes, and others of high quality, interred in the Abbey. These effigies, ’tis said, resembled the deceased as near as possible, and were formerly exposed at the funerals of our Princes and other great personages, in open chariots, with their proper ensigns of royalty or honour. Those here deposited are all maimed, some stripped, and others in tattered robes; but the most ancient are the least injured, which seems as if the value of their cloaths had occasioned this ravage; for the robes of Edward VI. that were once of crimson velvet, but now appear like leather, are left entire; while those of Queen Elizabeth and King James I. are taken away, as is every thing of value from all the rest.

St. John Baptist’s Chapel, contains several monuments: one at the entrance is to the memory of Mrs. Mary Kendall, the daughter of Thomas Kendall, Esq; she died in her thirty-third year, and her epitaph informs us, that “her many virtues rendered her every way worthy of that close union and friendship, in which she lived with Lady Catharine Jones; and in testimony of which, she desired that even their ashes, after death, might not be divided; and therefore ordered herself here to be interred, where she knew that excellent Lady designed one day to rest, near the grave of her beloved and religious mother, Elizabeth Countess of Kendall.”

Next to this is a monument erected to the memory of Col. Edward Popham, and his Lady, whose statues in white marble stand under a lofty canopy, resting their arms in a thoughtful posture upon a marble altar, on which lie the gloves of an armed knight. This gentleman was an active officer in Cromwell’s army, and his atchievements were here inscribed on his tomb. Upon the restoration, the monument was ordered to be demolished, and the inscription erased; but at the intercession of some of his Lady’s relations, who had eminently served his Majesty, the stone whereon the inscription was cut was only turned inwards, and no other injury done to his monument.

In the midst of this chapel is a large table monument for Thomas Cecil, Earl of Exeter, Baron Burleigh, Knight of the Garter, and Privy Counsellor to King James I. whereon is placed his statue lying down, with his Lady on his right side, and a vacant space on his left for another. The Lady on his right side is his first wife the Lady Dorothy Nevil, daughter to the Lord Latimer; and the vacant space was left for his second wife, Frances Bridges, of the noble family of Chandois; but as the right side was taken up, she gave express orders in her will, not to place her effigy on his left, however, according to the inscription, they are all buried together in one vault.

But the most magnificent monument in this chapel is against the east wall, where stood the altar of St. John Baptist; this was erected to the memory of Henry Carey, first cousin to Queen Elizabeth, who, on being denied the honours of peerage, laid the disappointment so much to heart, that he languished for a long time on a sick bed, at which the Queen being moved, too late, created him a Baron, and ordered the patent and robes to be laid before him, but without effect. He died on the 23d of July 1596, aged seventy-two.

Here also is a monument to Thomas Carey, second son to the Earl of Monmouth, who is said to have died of grief in 1648, at the age of thirty-three, on account of the untimely fate of his royal master King Charles I.

Here are likewise a few antique monuments, particularly one in which the figure of a Bishop properly habited, lies under a Gothic canopy. This is supposed to be erected for Thomas Rathal, Bishop of Durham, who died in 1524.

And an ancient stone monument for William of Colchester, whose effigies lie with the head supported by an angel, and the feet by a lamb.

St. Paul’s Chapel, has on the left hand, a lofty monument erected to the memory of Sir John Puckering, Knt. and Lord Chancellor in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in which office he died on the 20th of April 1596. His epitaph in Latin over his effigies, is thus translated:

Adjoining to this monument, is one, much decay’d, for Sir James Fullerton and his Lady, whose effigies lie upon it, and on a table of black marble is the following quaint inscription:

There is a monument erected to the memory of Sir James Bromley, Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth, who died on the 12th of April 1587. This monument is of alabaster, with pillars of Lydian marble gilt, and Sir James is represented lying in his Chancellor’s habit, with his four sons and four daughters kneeling on the base.

In the same chapel is a plain monument of Sir Dudley Carlton, who for his services to King James I. and King Charles I. was made Viscount Dorchester, and Secretary of State. He died on the 15th of February 1631, and is represented on his tomb sitting in a half rais’d posture.

To the east of this monument is another of alabaster to the memory of Frances the wife of Thomas Ratcliffe, Earl of Sussex, who distinguished herself by her humanity and generosity, and died on the 15th of April 1589. She is represented in a recumbent posture, resting on an embroidered cushion, dressed in robes, and with a coronet on her head.

Next to this is the monument of Francis Lord Cottington of Hanworth, who died on the 9th of June 1652, and of his Lady who died in 1633. This monument is of black touchstone, and remarkably different from every other in the Abbey, On the top is a circular frame of gilt brass, enclosing the bust of the Lady, and beneath is his Lordship on a table monument resting on his left arm, and over a satyr’s head is the inscription in English mentioning his Lordship’s titles and employments.

St. Nicholas’s Chapel contains several remarkable monuments: near the entrance is one of black marble, finely polished, to the memory of the Lady Jane Clifford, youngest daughter to the Duke of Somerset, and wife to Charles Lord Clifford and Dungarvan, who died Nov. 23, 1679. This black monument is adorned with cherubims and a scroll of alabaster, whereon is written a long inscription in English, containing an account of the Lady’s descent and marriage.

By the door on the same side, is a monument of alabaster erected for Lady Cecil, the daughter of Lord Cobham, who having married Sir Robert Cecil, son to William Lord Burleigh, Treasurer of England, died in child-bed in 1591. The Latin inscription is a dialogue between herself and husband, expressing their mutual affection.

At some distance is a magnificent temple of various coloured marble, erected to the memory of Anne Duchess of Somerset, wife to Edward Duke of Somerset. She died on the 16th of April 1618, aged twenty-eight. The inscription is in Latin and English, and contains a pompous detail of the noble lineage of this great Lady, her alliances and issue.

In this chapel is likewise a very expensive monument, erected by the great Lord Burleigh, to the memory of his wife Mildred, and their daughter the Lady Anne, Countess of Oxford, representing a stately temple built with porphyry, and other kinds of marble gilt. It is divided into two compartments, one elevated over the other. In the lower lies Lady Burleigh, in a recumbent posture, with her daughter Lady Jane in her arms; and at her head and feet are her children and grand-children kneeling. In the upper compartment is the figure of a venerable old man, supposed to be the Lord Burleigh, on his knees, as if at fervent prayer. The Lady Burleigh died April 4, 1589, aged sixty-three, after being forty years married, and her daughter, the Lady Oxford, June 5, 1588. On the tomb is a long Latin inscription, explaining the figures, and displaying their respective virtues and accomplishments.

The next monument I shall mention in this chapel, is that of the Lady Winifrid, married first to Sir Richard Sackville, Knt. and afterwards to John Paulet, Marquis of Winchester. On the base are the figures of a Knight armed and kneeling, and facing him a Lady in mourning also on her knees; behind whose back lies an infant on a baptismal font with its head supported by a pillow.

In the middle of the chapel is a fine raised monument of polished marble, to the memory of Sir George Villars and his Lady, whose son was raised by King James I. to the dignity of Duke of Buckingham.

In this chapel are two beautiful pyramids; the largest erected to the memory of Nicholas Bagnal, a child of two months old, overlaid by his nurse; the other to the memory of Anna Sophia Harley, a child of a year old, daughter to the Hon. Christopher Harley Embassador to the French King. She died in the year 1600, and her father, as appears by the inscription, caused her heart to be inclosed in a cup, and placed upon the top of the pyramid.

There are also in this chapel, a monument to the memory of the Lady Elizabeth Fanes, and one or two others, scarcely worth notice.

The Chapel of St. Edmund, has at the entrance a lofty monument with Gothic spires erected to the memory of John of Eltham, second son to King Edward III. and so called from Eltham in Kent. His statue in armour is of white alabaster, the head incircled by a coronet. He died in Scotland at nineteen years of age, unmarried, tho’ three different matches had been proposed to him, the last of which, to Mary daughter of Ferdinand King of Spain, he accepted, but lived not to consummate it.

Next to this is a small table monument, on which lie the effigies of William of Windsor, and Blanch of the Tower, the son and daughter of Edward III. They took their surnames from the places of their birth, and both died in their infancy. They are dressed in the habits of the times, the young Prince in a short doublet, of the indecency of which Chaucer’s parson complains, and the Princess in a horned head-dress, which Stow says, was frightful.

On another tomb lies the statue of the Lady Frances, Duchess of Suffolk, represented dressed in her robes. She was the daughter of the famous Charles Brandon by Mary the French Queen, daughter to Henry VII. and became Duchess of Suffolk by marrying Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset, who, upon her father’s decease, was created Duke of Suffolk. On her tomb are two inscriptions, the first in Latin verse in praise of her virtues, and the other in English, shewing her different marriages.

The next is an elegant monument of white marble, erected by John Earl of Clare, to the memory of his son Francis Hollis, a youth of great bravery, who, after returning from making a campaign in Flanders, died on the 12th of August 1622, aged eighteen. He is represented clad in Grecian armour, sitting on a Greek altar. A good author mentioning this statue, says, that it expresses more juvenile sweetness and beauty, than any thing of the kind he ever saw, and that if this figure has any fault in character or design, it is being placed in a languid sedentary posture, tho’ cloathed in armour, and described as a hero in his bloom; a more spirited attitude, he observes, would have been more suitable to the person represented, would have given the statuary greater latitude to exert his genius, and afforded more satisfaction to the spectator. The epitaph on this is as follows:

On an altar, in the same taste, but differently ornamented, sits the statue of the Lady Elizabeth Russel, the daughter of Lord Russel. This statue is of white alabaster, and the Lady is represented in a sleeping posture. Your guides say, that she died with a prick of her finger; but this story has no other foundation, than a misapprehension of the statuary’s design; for having represented her asleep, and pointing with her finger to a death’s head under her right foot, it has been supposed, by the position of her finger pointing downwards, that it was bleeding, and that this had closed her eyes in death; though the artist’s design seems rather to allude to the composed situation of her mind at the approach of death, which she considered only as a profound sleep, from which she was again to wake to a joyful resurrection, of which the motto under her feet, is an evident illustration; Dormit, non mortua est; “She is not dead, but sleepeth.” The Latin inscription on the scroll beneath, only tells that this monument was erected to her memory by her afflicted sister Anne. The device is an eagle, the emblem of eternity, resting on a florilege of roses, &c.

Within the iron rails that inclose this last monument, is a magnificent one to the memory of John Lord Russel, son and heir to Francis Earl of Bedford, and of his young son Francis, by Elizabeth the daughter of Sir Anthony Cook, Knt. This monument is of various coloured marble and alabaster, and is adorned with gilding. Lord Russel is represented lying in his robes, with his infant son at his feet. His Lady, who erected this tomb, was esteemed the Sappho of the age, and was not only an excellent poetess, but mistress of the learned languages; and five epitaphs on this tomb are of her composition, three of which are in Latin, one in Greek, and the other in English, which last is here transcribed as a specimen of the rest, that are to the same purpose:

In this chapel is a monument partly enclosed, to the memory of Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury and his Lady, who are represented lying on a black marble table supported by an alabaster pedestal. This monument is adorned with variegated marble finely carved. The inscription contains his titles and character, which is a very noble one, and informs us that he died on the 8th of February 1617, in the fifty-seventh year of his age.

In this chapel are several other monuments, adorned in their ancient manner, with statues lying flat on the backs; and also some other monuments affixed to the walls.

The Chapel of St. Benedict, which is that next to the south cross, has a monument erected to the memory of Lionel Cranfield Earl of Middlesex, Lord High Treasurer of England in the reign of King James I. This monument was erected by his relict the Lady Anne, and is of black marble, on which are two statues in a recumbent posture, representing his Lordship lying in his robes, with his Lady. It has a long Latin inscription, representing his various employments and honours, and that he finished his life in a retired leisure, and died on the 6th of August 1645, aged seventy.

On the east side, where stood the altar of St. Benedict, is a monument of various kinds of marble, in memory of Lady Frances Countess of Hertford, who died on the 14th of May 1598, in the forty-fourth year of her age. It is of various kinds of marble, and the Countess is in the old taste represented in her robes, lying with her head resting on an embroidered cushion, and her feet on the back of a lion.

On the south side of this chapel is a table monument of white marble to the memory of George Sprat, the second son of Dr. Sprat, Bishop of Rochester, an infant of a year old.

Near it is the monument of Dr. Gabriel Goodman, the first Dean of this church, who founded an hospital, and instituted a school at Rathven in Denbighshire, where he was born. He was a person of great piety, and was the first who raised the learned Camden from obscurity. He is represented kneeling, in his proper habit. He died in 1601.

1. At the corner of the last mentioned chapel is a plain neat monument to the memory of Mr. Dryden, adorned with no other ornaments than an elegant bust of that great poet. It was erected by the late Duke of Buckingham, who thought no inscription necessary to transmit the fame of that great poet to posterity; we therefore only see these few words, J. Dryden, born 1632, died May 1, 1700, and underneath, John Sheffield Duke of Buckinghamshire erected this monument, 1720.

2. High on a pillar is a neat table monument to the memory of Mrs. Martha Birch, who died in 1723, in the fiftieth year of her age. The inscription also informs us, that she was daughter to Francis Viner, Esq; and was first married to Francis Millington, Esq; and after his death to Peter Birch, Prebendary of this Abbey; and that she was pious, chaste, and prudent.

3. At a small distance is a plain neat monument, to the memory of Abraham Cowley, on which is placed a flaming urn, begirt with a chaplet of laurel; expressive emblems of the glory he acquired by the spirit of his writings. The Latin inscription and epitaph on the pedestal have been thus translated.

Near this place lies Abraham Cowley, the Pindar, Horace, and Virgil of England; and the delight, ornament, and admiration of this age.

So wishes, and desires that wish may be sacred to posterity, George Duke of Buckingham, who erected this monument for that incomparable man. He died in the forty-ninth year of his age, and was carried from Buckingham-house, with honourable pomp, his exequies being attended by persons of illustrious characters of all degrees, and interred August 13, 1667.

His grave is just before the monument, as appears by a blue stone, on which is engraved his name.

4. The monument of that ancient poet Geoffery Chaucer, was once a handsome one in the Gothic stile; but is now defaced by time. Chaucer, who is stiled the Father of the English poets, was the son of Sir John Chaucer, a citizen of London, employed by Edward III. in negociations abroad relating to trade. He was first a student at Cambridge; but afterwards studied at Merton College, Oxford; and to perfect himself in the knowledge of the laws, entered himself of the Middle Temple: thus accomplished, he soon became a favourite at court, and was employed as shield-bearer to the King; was a gentleman of the bedchamber, and by Edward III. was sent Embassador abroad. However, in the succeeding reign he fell into disgrace, and was committed to the Tower for high-treason, where he wrote his Testament of Love: but upon the death of Richard II. he became a greater favourite at court than ever, from his having married the great John of Gaunt’s wife’s sister. He was born in 1328, and died in 1400.

5. The plain monument of Mr. John Phillips, has his bust in relief, represented as in an arbour, interwoven with vines, laurel branches, and apple-trees; and over it this motto, Honos erit huic quoque pomo, alluding to the high qualities ascribed to the apple, in his excellent poem called Cyder. He was author of but few pieces; but those were masterly performances. His Blenheim, Splendid Shilling, and Lyric Ode to Lord Bolingbroke on Tobacco, have been much admired. He was the son of Dr. Stephen Phillips, Archdeacon of Salop, was born at Brampton in Oxfordshire on the 30th of December 1676, and died of a consumption at Hereford, on the 15th of February, 1708, in the prime of his life. The inscription on his monument contains an account of his virtues and abilities, and is the strongest testimony of his merit, since that alone could inspire his great patron Sir Simon Harcourt, Knt. with such a generous friendship for him, as to countenance and encourage him in the amplest manner when living; and to extend his regard for him even after his death, by erecting this monument to his memory.

6. Next this is Mr. Michael Drayton’s monument. This gentleman was esteemed an excellent poet, and learned antiquarian. The inscription and epitaph were formerly in gold letters; but are now almost obliterated, and are as follow:

7. Ben Johnson’s monument is of white marble, and his bust is executed with great happiness and spirit; ’tis inclosed with a tablature ornamented with a few proper and elegant decorations, consisting of emblematical figures: and has no other inscription but the words O Rare Ben Johnson! This gentleman was the son of a clergyman, and educated at Westminster school, while Mr. Camden was Master; but after his father’s death, his mother marrying a bricklayer, he was forced from school, and being obliged to work for his father, ’tis said, that at the building of Lincoln’s Inn, he was sometimes seen at work with his trowel in one hand, and Horace in the other. However, Mr. Camden having an esteem for him on account of his abilities, recommended him to Sir Walter Raleigh. He attended that brave man’s son in his travels, and upon his return, entered himself at Cambridge; afterwards he wrote a considerable number of plays; became Poet Laureat to King James I. and died on the 16th of August 1637, aged 63. His tomb was erected by the Earl of Essex, who has inscribed his own name on the stone.

8. Spenser’s tomb is of grey marble, and has suffered greatly by time. It was erected in an age when taste was in its infancy in England, and yet has something in it venerably plain, and not absurdly ornamental. The inscription upon it is as follows:

Here lies (expecting the second coming of our Saviour Christ Jesus) the Body of Edmund Spenser, the Prince of Poets in his time, whose divine Spirit needs no other witness than the works he left behind him. He was born in London in 1510, and died 1596.

9. Above Spenser’s monument is that of Samuel Butler, the author of Hudibrass. By the Latin inscription, it appears, that it was erected by John Barber, Esq; Citizen of London, and afterwards Lord Mayor in 1731, that he who was destitute of all things when alive, might not want a monument when dead. Mr. Butler was born at Shernsham in Worcestershire in 1612, and died at London in 1680.

10. A plain and neat monument of white marble in memory of that divine poet, John Milton, who died in 1674. Under a very elegant bust made by Rysbrack is this inscription:

In the year of our Lord Christ 1737, this bust of the author of Paradise Lost was placed here by William Benson, Esq; one of the two auditors of the imprest to his Majesty, &c.

11. A monument erected to the memory of Thomas Shadwell, is adorned with his bust crowned with a chaplet of bays, an urn, and other decorations. It was erected to his honour by his son Dr. Thomas Shadwell, and the Latin inscription informs us, that he was descended from an ancient family in Staffordshire; was Poet Laureat and Historiographer in the reign of King William, and died November 20, 1692, in the fifty-fifth year of his age. This poet was the author of several plays; but falling under the lash of Mr. Dryden, was satirized by him under the character of Ogg, in the second part of his Absalom and Achitophel.

12. The monument of Matthew Prior, is adorned with great expence. On one side of the pedestal stands the figure of Thalia, one of the Muses, with a flute in her hand; and on the other History, with her book shut; between these statues is Prior’s bust upon a raised altar, and over it is a handsome pediment, on the ascending sides of which are two boys, one with an hour-glass in his hand run out; the other holding a torch reversed. On the apex of the pediment is an urn, and on the base of the monument is a long inscription in Latin, mentioning the public posts and employments with which he had been intrusted; and above we are informed, that while he was writing the history of his own times, death interposed, and broke both the thread of his discourse and of his life, on the 18th of September 1721, in the fifty-seventh year of his age.

13. The monument of St. Evremond is a very plain one, adorned with a bust. The inscription observes, that he was of a noble family in Normandy, and was employed in the army of France, in which he rose to the rank of a Marshal; but returning to Holland, was from thence invited by King Charles II. into England, where he lived in the greatest intimacy with the King and principal nobility; more particularly with the Duchess of Mazarine. He was of a very sprightly turn of humour, as well in his conversation as writings, and lived to the age of ninety, when he was carried off by a fit of the strangury, on the 9th of September 1703.

14. The monument erected to the memory of the immortal Shakespear, a print of which we have here given, is worthy of that great dramatic writer, and both the design and execution are extremely elegant. Upon a handsome pedestal stands his statue in white marble in the habit of the time in which he lived, with one elbow leaning upon some books, and his head reclined upon his hand, in a posture of meditation. The attitude, the dress, the shape, the genteel air, and fine composure observable in this figure of Shakespear, cannot be sufficiently admired, and the beautiful lines of his upon the scroll are happily chosen.

Immediately over his head upon a curious piece of dark-coloured marble, is the following inscription, in capital letters raised in gold:

The heads on the pedestal representing Henry V. Richard III. and Queen Elizabeth, three principal characters in his plays, are likewise proper ornaments to grace his tomb. In short, the taste that is here shewn, does honour to those great names under whose direction, by the public favour, it was so elegantly constructed; these were the Earl of Burlington, Dr. Mead, Mr. Pope, and Mr. Martin. It was designed by Kent, and executed by Scheemakers; and the expence defrayed by the grateful contributions of the public.

Mr. Fleetwood, then Master of Drury Lane Theatre, and Mr. Rich of Covent Garden, gave each a benefit, arising from one of his own plays, towards it, and the Dean and Chapter made a present of the ground.

15. The next monument is a very fine one to the memory of Nicholas Rowe, Esq; and his only daughter. On a pedestal about twenty inches high, which stands on an altar, is a fine bust of Mr. Rowe; near it is his Lady in the deepest affliction, and between both, on a pyramid behind, is a medalion, with the head of a young Lady in relief. On the front of the pedestal is this inscription:

To the memory of Nicholas Rowe, Esq; who died in 1718, aged forty-five, and of Charlotte his only daughter, wife of Henry Fane, Esq; who inheriting her father’s spirit, and amiable in her own innocence and beauty, died in the 23d year of her age, 1739.

16. Near this last, is a fine monument erected to the memory of Mr. John Gay, by the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, his great patrons. His bust is a very good one, and the masks, instruments of music, and other devices, are blended together in a group, in allusion to the various species of writings in which he excelled, as farce, satire, fable, and pastoral. The short epitaph in the front, was written by himself, and has given some offence, as the sentiment at first view seems by no means proper for a monument;

Here lie the ashes of Mr. John Gay, the warmest friend, the gentlest companion, the most benevolent man; who maintained independency in low circumstances of fortune; integrity, in the midst of a corrupt age; and that equal serenity of mind, which conscious goodness alone can give, throughout the whole course of his life. Favourite of the Muses, he was led by them to every elegant art, refined in taste, and fraught with graces all his own. In various kinds of poetry, superior to many, inferior to none: his works continue to inspire what his example taught; contempt of folly, however adorned; detestation of vice, however dignified; reverence of virtue, however disgraced.

Charles and Catharine, Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, who loved his person living, and regret him dead, have caused this monument to be erected to his memory.

17. The next is a most magnificent, lofty and elegant monument, erected to the late Duke of Argyle, enclosed with rails, and decorated with figures finely executed. The statue of the Duke is spirited even at the verge of life. On one side of the base is Pallas, and on the other Eloquence; the one looking sorrowfully up at the principal figure above, and the other pathetically displaying the public loss at his death. Above is the figure of History, with one hand holding a book, and with the other writing on a pyramid of most beautiful variegated marble, admirably polished, the name and titles of the Hero in large gold letters, JOHN DUKE OF ARGYLE AND GR. at which point the pen of History rests. His actions are supposed to be contained in the book she holds in her other hand, on the cover of which in letters of gold are inscribed the date of his Grace’s death, and the years of his life. Above is inscribed on this beautiful pyramid in gold letters, the following epitaph, said to be written by Paul Whitehead, Esq;

In memory of an honest man, a constant friend, John the Great Duke of Argyle and Greenwich, a General and Orator exceeded by none in the age he lived. Sir Henry Fermer, Baronet, by his last will left the sum of five hundred pounds towards erecting this monument, and recommended the above inscription.

19. The monument of Isaac Barrow, D.D. is remarkable for a fine bust of that great divine and mathematician, who, as the inscription shews, was Chaplain to King Charles II. Head of Trinity College, Cambridge; Professor of Geometry at Gresham College in London, and of Greek and Mathematics at Cambridge. He died on the 14th of May 1677, aged forty-seven.

19. A table monument of white marble, erected to the memory of Sir Richard Cox, who was taster to Queen Elizabeth, and King James I. and to the latter steward of the household.

20. A neat monument erected to the memory of the learned Isaac Casaubon, by Dr. Moreton, Bishop of Durham. That profound scholar and critic whose name is inscribed upon it, was born in France, and in his younger years was keeper of the royal library at Paris; but at length being dissatisfied with the Romish religion, he, upon the murder of his great patron Henry IV. quitted his native country, and at the earnest entreaty of King James I. settled in England, where he died in 1614, aged forty-five.

21. Above this last monument, is another for John Earnest Grape, a person well skilled in oriental learning, who is represented as large as the life, sitting in a thoughtful posture upon a marble tomb, as if contemplating on death.

22. Next to the west corner of the south cross is an ancient monument to the memory of that great antiquarian William Camden, who is represented in a half length, in the dress of his time, holding a book in his right hand, and in his left his gloves. He rests on an altar, on the body of which is a Latin inscription, which mentions his indefatigable industry in illustrating the British antiquities, and his candour, sincerity, and pleasant good humour in private life. He died Nov. 9, 1623.

In this south cross are several stones to be met with on the pavement, worthy of notice. Among these is one over the body of Thomas Parr, of the county of Salop, born in 1483. He lived in the reigns of ten Princes, King Edward IV. King Edward V. King Richard III. King Henry VII. King Henry VIII. King Edward VI. Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, King James I. and King Charles I. and was interred here Nov. 15, 1635, aged an hundred and fifty-two.

At a small distance from Parr, is a small white stone, over the body of Sir William Davenant, who succeeded Ben Johnson as Poet Laureat to King Charles I. and died in 1688, aged sixty-three. On this stone is inscribed O rare Sir William Davenant! and this probably gave the thought of putting the like inscription on the monument afterwards erected to his predecessor Ben Johnson.

Under the pavement near Dryden’s tomb, lie the remains of Francis Beaumont, the dramatic writer, who died in London in March, 1615, and was buried here without either tomb or inscription.

Affixed to the pillars in this south cross, are also two table monuments; which we shall but just mention, one for Samuel Barton, D.D. a Prebendary of this church, who died in Sept. 1715, aged sixty-two: and the other to the memory of Anthony Horneck, D.D. who was born at Wittenberg in Zealand, but was educated at Oxford, and became King’s Divinity Professor and Chaplain, a Prebendary of this church, and a Preacher at the Savoy. This gentleman, who was remarkable for his piety, died of the stone on the 30th of January, 1696, aged fifty-six.

23. On entering the south side, there is next the wall a monument erected to the memory of Sophia Fairholm, Countess of Anandale. It is the representation of an ancient sepulchre, over which a stately edifice is raised, ornamented at the top with the family arms. She died in the year 1716, aged forty-six; and the monumental inscription informs us, that it was erected by her son the Marquis of Anandale, as a mark of his duty and gratitude.

24. The monument of the brave Sir Cloudesly Shovel, who here appears a very unmeaning figure, with a large stiff wig, reposing himself upon velvet cushions under a canopy of state; and on the base is represented in bas relief, the ship Association in which the Admiral last sailed, striking against a rock, with several others perishing at the same time, and at the top are two boys blowing trumpets.

This monument has been highly censured by all persons of taste, tho’ it is erected to his memory at great expence, and even by his Sovereign Queen Anne. The great Mr. Addison has justly exposed it in the Spectators, and complains at this brave rough English Admiral’s being here represented by the figure of a beau; and also censures the inscription, which instead of celebrating the many remarkable actions he had performed in the service of his country, only informs us of the manner of his death, from which it was impossible to reap any honour, tho’ it may excite our pity. The inscription is as follows:

Sir Cloudesly Shovel, Knt. Rear-Admiral of Great Britain, and Admiral and Commander in chief of the fleet—the just reward of his long and faithful services. He was deservedly beloved of his country, and esteemed, tho’ dreaded by the enemy, who had often experienced his conduct and courage. Being ship-wrecked on the rocks of Scylly, in his voyage from Toulon, the 22d of October 1707, at night, in the 57th year of his age. His fate was lamented by all, but especially by the seafaring part of the nation; to whom he was a generous patron, and a worthy example. His body was flung on the shore, and buried with others in the sand; but being soon after taken up, was placed under this monument, which his royal Mistress had caused to be erected to commemorate his steady loyalty and extraordinary virtues.

25. The monument of George Stepney, Esq; has his bust under a canopy, and two naked boys weeping and holding handkerchiefs at their eyes. This monument, though the materials are very rich, is allowed to be void of design, and but poorly executed. The Latin inscriptions give an account of his virtues, his learning and abilities, and the many negociations in which he was employed at foreign courts. He died at Chelsea in 1706.

26. A lofty and much more elegant monument for George Churchill, whose merits are mentioned in a long Latin inscription, where it is said that he was the second son of Sir Winston Churchill, of Dorsetshire, Knt. and a not unworthy brother of John Duke of Marlborough: that he was early trained to military affairs, and served with great honour by sea and land, under King Charles II. King James II. King William III. and Queen Anne: that he was Admiral of the English fleet, at the burning of the French fleet at La Hogue, in King William’s reign; and for his bravery there, made one of the Commissioners of the Admiralty: that in the succeeding reign he was made Admiral in chief, and died on the 8th of May 1718, aged fifty-eight.

27. Near that of Churchill’s, is a stately monument erected for Sir Palmes Fairborne. Two pyramids of black marble standing on cannon balls, have two Moorish Emperors heads in profile on their tops; these pyramids are adorned with relievos, on one Sir Palmes is shot while viewing the enemy’s lines before the town; and on the other is a hearse and six horses bringing him off wounded to the castle. Above in a lofty dome are the arms of the deceased, with this motto underneath, TUTUS SI FORTIS, and over his arms a Turk’s head on a dagger, by way of crest, which he won by his valour in fighting against that people in the German war. On this monument is the following inscription:

Sacred to the immortal memory of Sir Palmes Fairborne, Knt. Governor of Tangier, in execution of which command, he was mortally wounded by a shot from the Moors, then besieging the town, in the 46th year of his age, October 24, 1680.

26. On a table monument enriched with military trophies, and raised against the wall, is the following inscription:

To the memory of the honoured Major Richard Creed, who attended his Majesty King William the Third in all his wars, every where signalizing himself, and never more himself than when he looked an enemy in the face. At the glorious battle of Blenheim, Ann. Dom. 1704, he commanded those squadrons that began the attack; in two several charges he remained unhurt; but in a third, after many wounds received, still valiantly fighting, he was shot through the head. His dead body was brought off by his brother, at the hazard of his own life, and buried there. To his memory his sorrowful mother erects this monument, placing it near another which her son, when living, used to look upon with pleasure, for the worthy mention it makes of that great man Edward Earl of Sandwich, to whom he had the honour to be related, and whose heroic virtues he was ambitious to imitate.

27. The monument of Sir John Chardin, who distinguished himself by his travels into the east, is adorned with a globe, which exhibits a view of the different countries he visited, and around it are represented a number of geographical instruments.

28. The monument of Sidney Earl of Godolphin is adorned with a bust richly dressed, and has an inscription which mentions the employments and honours through which he passed. He died on September 15, 1712, aged sixty-seven.

29. The next is a double monument erected to the memory of Sir Charles Harbord, and Clement Cottrel, Esq; On the base is represented in relievo a dreadful sea-fight, and on the top in a wreath of laurel is this inscription, “To preserve and unite the memory of two faithful friends, who lost their lives at sea together, May 28, 1672.” These two young gentlemen both perished in the Royal James, with the Earl of Sandwich, who commanded in that ship as Vice-Admiral against the Dutch in that memorable fight off the coast of Sussex in the reign of King Charles II. The Royal James being set on fire, Sir Charles Harbord, first Lieutenant, though he might have saved himself by swimming as many others did, yet out of pure affection to his worthy Commander, chose to die with him. Young Cottrel was a volunteer, and after being the first man who had boarded a Dutch ship of 70 guns, and pulled down her ensign with his own hands, returned to the Royal James unwounded, and also perished with his friends. This gentleman understood seven languages, tho’ but twenty-two years of age. This moving story is recited at large on the monument.

30. A tomb erected to the memory of Anne Fielding, the first wife of Sir Samuel Morland, Knt. and Bart. chiefly remarkable for having two very learned inscriptions: the first, in Hebrew, is to this effect:

O thou fairest among women! O virtuous woman! The hand of the Lord hath done this.

Come let us lament over this monument, raised for thee by a beloved husband; but in certain hope that thou art united with Christ.

This Lady was truly religious, virtuous, faithful, and, as a dove, mild and chaste; while she continued in life, she was honoured, and, through mercy, is happy in death.

Anne, daughter to George Fielding, Esq; and of Mary his wife, the truly loving (and as truly beloved) wife of Samuel Morland, Knt. and Bart. died Feb. 20, Ann. Dom. 1679–80.

31. Near this last is a tomb much in the same taste, erected to the memory of Carola Harsnet, the second wife of the same Baronet, who died in child-bed of her second son, Oct. 10, 1674, in the 23d year of her age. Here are two inscriptions, the first in Hebrew, and the other in Greek, which have been thus translated:

Blessed be the Lord, my wife was precious: blessed be thy remembrance, O virtuous woman.

When I think of thy mildness, patience, charity, modesty, and piety, I lament thee, O most excellent creature, and grieve exceedingly: but not like such as have no faith; for I believe and expect the resurrection of those who sleep in Christ.

32. Between the two former is a beautiful monument to the memory of John Smith, Esq; a fine bust in relievo of that gentleman, is supported by a weeping figure representing his daughter, both which are designed and executed with great judgment and spirit. The Lady sits upon an urn, which, with its base and a pyramid behind, unite the whole in a most harmonious and agreeable stile. On the base is a Latin inscription, setting forth his descent and issue.

33. Over the door that opens into the cloisters is a noble and elegant monument erected for General Wade. In the center is a beautiful marble pillar, enriched with military trophies most exquisitely wrought. The principal figures, are Fame pushing back Time, who is eagerly approaching to demolish the pillar, with all the ensigns of honour, with which it is adorned; the General’s head is in a medalion, and the whole is executed with great beauty and elegance. The inscription underneath runs thus:

To the memory of George Wade, Field-Marshal of his Majesty’s forces, Lieutenant-General of the ordnance, Colonel of his Majesty’s third Regiment of Dragoon guards, Governor of Fort-William, Fort-Augustus, and Fort-George, and one of his Majesty’s most honourable Privy Council. He died March 14, 1748, aged seventy-five.

34. A plain neat monument erected to the memory of Robert Cannon, D. D. Dean of Lincoln, and Prebendary of this church, who died on the 28th of March 1722, aged fifty-nine.

35. An elegant monument of Mrs. Katharine Bovey. Faith is here represented with her book closed, and Wisdom lamenting the death of her Patroness, between which is the Lady’s head in relief enclosed in an annulet of black marble curiously veined. The inscription, which is in English, gives an excellent character of the deceased, who died on the 21st of January 1726, in the seventy-second year of her age; and informs us that Mrs. Mary Pope, who lived with her near forty years, in perfect friendship, erected this monument to her memory.

36. A small table monument to the memory of Mr. Henry Wharton, which is only remarkable an account of the distinguished character of the person whose name is inscribed upon it. Mr. Wharton was Rector of Chartham in Kent, Vicar of the church of Minster in the Isle of Thanet, Chaplain to Archbishop Sancroft, and one of the most voluminous writers of his years. He died on the 3d of March 1694, aged only thirty-one, and was so universally respected by the Bishops and Clergy, that Archbishop Tillotson, and several other prelates, with a vast body of the clergy, the choir and King’s scholars, all in solemn procession attended his funeral, and joined in an anthem composed on this occasion by the great Purcell.

37. A plain neat monument erected to the memory of Dr. Thomas Spratt, Bishop of Rochester, who died in 1713, aged seventy seven, and of his son Mr. Thomas Spratt, Archdeacon of Rochester, and Prebendary of the churches of Rochester, Winchester, and Westminster, whose remains lie near those of his father. This monument was erected by John Friend, M. D. as a testimony of his respect for those two worthy personages.

38. A monument for Sir Lumley Robinson, Bart. of Kentwell-Hall in Suffolk, who by an untimely death ended his life Aug. 6, 1684, aged thirty-six. It is adorned with columns supported by death’s heads, and the arms upon the base by a cherub. The sides of the pediment have enrichments of laurel branches, &c. and on the top is a vase.

39. The monument of John Friend, M. D. has an admirable bust of that gentleman, standing on a pedestal of fine white veined marble, and under it is a long inscription in Latin, setting forth the distinguished acquirements, and great abilities of that eminent physician.

40. Mr. Congreve’s monument has an half length marble portrait of that gentleman, placed on a pedestal of fine Egyptian marble, and enriched with emblematical devices relating to the drama. Underneath is this inscription in English:

Mr. William Congreve died January 19, 1728, aged fifty-six, and was buried near this place. To whose most valuable memory this monument is set up by Henrietta Duchess of Marlborough, as a mark how dearly she remembers the happiness she enjoyed in the sincere friendship of so worthy and honest a man; whose virtue, candour and wit, gained him the love and esteem of the present age; and whose writings will be the admiration of the future.

41. The monument of the Right Hon. James Craggs, Esq; his statue is represented leaning on an urn, and was one of the first in the Abbey represented standing. The inscription, which is in golden characters, shews that he was Principal Secretary of state, and a man universally beloved, which is there particularly remarked, because as he was only a shoe-maker’s son, it is the more surprizing that in the high station to which he was raised by his merit, he should escape envy, and acquire the general esteem. He died on the 16th of February 1720. Upon the base of this monument are the following lines, written by Mr. Pope:

42. On the south side of the great west entrance is a noble monument erected to the memory of the brave Captain Cornwall, who after distinguishing himself by his heroism, was unhappily slain in the battle between the English fleet, commanded by the Admirals Matthews and Lestock, and the French. This monument was erected to his honour by order of Parliament, and is a noble testimony of the public gratitude for his distinguished merit. On the back is a lofty pyramid of Egyptian marble beautifully variegated, and finely polished, standing on a base of the same marble. Upon this base is a rock of white marble, along the different parts of which run sea weeds. Near the top stands a fine figure of Fame, placing a medalion of the Captain on the summit of the rock, underneath which is a naval crown, a globe, the trumpet of Fame, and other ornaments, and behind rises to the top of the pediment a palm, entwined with a laurel. On the other side of the medalion stands a beautiful figure of Britannia, with the British Lion couchant at her feet. Beneath, in an opening of the rock, is a Latin inscription on a fine piece of polished porphyry, mentioning his descent, and the manner of his death, which happened while fighting for his country, on the 3d of February 1743, in the 45th year of his age, and that the Senate of Britain consecrated this monument to his memory. In another opening of the rock, a little lower, is represented in bass relief a view of the engagement in which this great man perished, and at the bottom of the rock on the sides lie cannons, flags, anchors, &c. all of white marble.

43. The next is an elegant monument for Sir Thomas Hardy, Knt. On the back is a lofty pyramid of a bluish coloured marble, at the foot of which the statue of the deceased is placed, reclining upon a tomb of elegant workmanship, with a naked boy on his left side weeping over an urn: the enrichments round the pedestal on which he stands are just and proper; and the inscription contains the following short history of his life:

Sir Thomas Hardy, to whose memory this monument is erected, was bred in the royal navy from his youth, and was made a Captain in 1693.

In the expedition to Cadiz, under Sir George Rooke, he commanded the Pembroke; and when the fleet left the coast of Spain, to return to England, he was ordered to Lagos Bay, where he got intelligence of the Spanish galleons being arrived in the harbour of Vigo, under convoy of seventeen French men of war: by his great diligence and judgment he joined the English fleet, and gave the Admiral that intelligence which engaged him to make the best of his way to Vigo, where all the aforementioned galleons and men of war were either taken or destroyed.

After the success of that action, the Admiral sent him with an account of it to the Queen, who ordered him a considerable present, and knighted him.

Some years afterwards he was made a Rear-Admiral, and received several other marks of favour and esteem from her Majesty, and from her Royal Consort Prince George of Denmark, Lord High Admiral of England.

44. The monument of John Conduit, Esq; is allowed, in point of design, to be not inferior to that last mentioned, and there is something in the manner which shews them both to be the workmanship of the same hand. In the middle of the pyramid is a large medalion of brass, round which is a Latin inscription, thus english’d, John Conduit, Master of the Mint; this medalion is suspended by a cherub above, and rests on another below. This gentleman succeeded his relation the great Sir Isaac Newton in that office, and desired to be interred near him, as appears from a long Latin inscription on the base. He died May 23d, 1727, aged forty-nine. Catharine his wife died Jan. 20, 1739, and lies interred under the same tomb.

45. The monument of William Horneck, Esq; is enriched with books, plans, and instruments of fortification, alluding to the employments of the deceased; who was chief engineer to the royal train of artillery, and, as his inscription informs us, learned the art of war under the great Duke of Marlborough. He died May 10, 1743.

46. The monument of Sir Godfrey Kneller, Knt. has a bust of Sir Godfrey under a canopy of state, the curtains of which are gilt and tied with golden strings, and on each side the bust is a weeping Cupid, one resting on a framed picture, the other holding a painter’s pallat and pencils. This monument is not however much esteemed.

On the pedestal is a Latin inscription, signifying that Sir Godfrey Kneller, Knt. who lies interred here, was painter to King Charles II. King James II. King William III. Queen Anne, and King George I. Underneath is his epitaph written by Mr. Pope, which has been also much censured:

47. We come now to the monument of Anna Countess Dowager of Clanrikard, which is adorned with excellent carving, and a fine statue of that Lady resting upon a tomb. The inscription gives an account of her descent, marriages, and issue, and informs us, that she died on the 14th of January 1732, in the 49th year of her age.

48. The monument of John Woodward, M. D. is a very beautiful one, and the figures most admirably finished. The head of the deceased is represented in profile, in a very masterly manner, and the Lady who holds it is inimitably performed. The inscription contains a panegyric on the parts and learning of the deceas’d.

49. A neat plain monument erected to the memory of Heneage Twisden, a young hero, who fell in the battle of Blairgnies in Hainault, while he was Aid de Camp to John Duke of Argyle, who commanded the right wing of the Confederate army. He was the seventh son of Sir William Twisden, Bart. and a youth of the greatest expectations; but the fortune of war put a stop to his rising merit, in 1709, and in the 29th year of his age.

Near this monument are two small ones to the memory of two of his brothers, Josiah and John; Josiah was a Captain at the siege of Agremont, near Lisle in Flanders, and was slain by a cannon shot in 1708, at twenty-three years of age. John was a Lieutenant in the Admiral’s ship, under Sir Cloudesly Shovel, and perished with him in 1707, aged twenty-three.

50. A monument erected in honour of Col. James Bringfield, ornamented with military trophies, cherubs, &c. and surrounded by a mantling enclosing a tablet, on which is inscribed the military preferments of the deceased, the manner of his death and burial, and the praises of his piety and virtue. He was born at Abingdon in Berks, was Equerry to Prince George of Denmark, and Aid de Camp to the Great Duke of Marlborough; but was killed by a cannon ball, as he was remounting his General on a fresh horse, at the battle of Ramelies, May 12, 1706, and was interred at Barechem in Brabant, in the 50th year of his age.

51. The monument of Mr. Killegrew has been reckoned one of the best pieces of sculpture in the whole church, and what is remarkable, is cut out of one stone. The embellishments are distinct and very picturesque, and the inscription, short, modest, and soldier-like. It is as follows:

Robert Killegrew, of Arwenack in Cornwall, Esq; son of Thomas and Charlotte, Page of honour to King Charles II. Brigadier General of her Majesty’s forces, killed in Spain in the battle of Almanza, April 14, 1707. Ætatis fuæ 47. Militavi Annis 24.

52. The next is a monument erected to the memory of Mrs. Mary Beaufoy, who is represented in a devout posture, with cherubs crowning her: on each side are Cupids lamenting the early decay of a virgin beauty, and underneath the arms of her family quarterly upheld by cherubs. On the base is the following inscription:

Reader! whoever thou art, let the sight of this tomb imprint in thy mind, that the young and old without distinction, leave this world; and therefore fail not to secure the next. This Lady was only daughter and heiress to Sir Henry Beaufoy, of Guyscliffe, near Warwick, by the Hon. Charlotte Lane, eldest daughter of George Lord Viscount Lansborough. She died July 12, 1705.

53. After passing by a few monuments unworthy of notice, we come to that of Admiral Baker, adorned with a rostral column of curiously veined marble, decorated with the prows of galleys, a Medusa’s head, and other naval and military trophies, with this short inscription underneath:

To the memory of John Baker, Esq; Vice-Admiral of the White Squadron of the British Fleet; who, when he commanded in the Mediterranean, died at Port Mahon, Nov. 10, 1736, aged fifty-six. He was a brave, judicious and experienced officer; a sincere friend, and a true lover of his country.

54. Next to this is Mr. Priestman’s monument, to which is suspended by a knot of ribbons, fastened to a column of variegated marble, a fine medalion, with the words Henry Priestman, Esq; round the head. Underneath are naval trophies and sea instruments; and upon the base is an inscription, shewing that the person to whom this monument is erected, was Commander in chief of a squadron of ships of war in the reign of King Charles II. a Commissioner of the Navy, and one of the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of England in the reign of King William III. He died Aug. 20, 1712, aged 65.

55. The monument of Philip Carteret, son to Lord George Carteret, who died a King’s scholar at Westminster, ripe for the university, on the 19th of March 1710, aged nineteen. On the upper part is an admirable bust of this noble youth, and underneath a very fine figure of Time standing on an altar, and holding a scroll in his hand, whereon is written in Sapphic verses, lines to the following import, which he is supposed to be repeating:

56. A neat monument erected for Edward de Carteret, the son of Sir Edward de Carteret, Gentleman Usher to King Charles II. who died on the 30th of October 1677, in the eighth year of his age. It is ornamented with cherubs and with festoons of leaves and fruit.

57. The monument of Thomas Levingston, Viscount Teviot, is decorated with the arms, supporters, and crest of that nobleman, and with military trophies, alluding to his profession of a soldier. On the face of the monument is a long inscription in Latin, shewing that he was born in Holland, but descended from the Levingstons in Scotland; that from his childhood he was trained to arms; and having attended the Prince of Orange into Britain, as a Colonel of foot, rose to the rank of a Lieutenant-General in the army, and General of the Scotch forces, was made Master of the ordnance, and a Privy Counsellor; that he secured Scotland to the King by one decisive action on the Spey, for which he was advanced to the dignity of a Viscount, and that he died on the 14th of Jan. 1710, aged sixty.

58. A handsome monument erected for the Lord Constable, ornamented with a cherub below, and the family arms above. It has this short inscription:

Near this lies the Right Hon. Robert Lord Constable, Viscount Dunbar, who departed this life Nov. 23, 1714, in the sixty-fourth year of his age.

59. A plain neat monument for Peter Heylin, D.D. and Prebendary of this church, who died on the 8th of May 1662. It is adorned with a pediment, and the arms of the deceased, and contains a long inscription in Latin, mentioning the most remarkable incidents in his life.

60. The tomb of Charles Williams, Esq; adorned with very remarkable scroll-work, and scollopping; what is very singular is, its being supported by a death’s head on the wings of Time. This gentleman died on the 29th of August 1720, aged eighty-seven.

61. A small but elegant monument erected to the memory of the celebrated Henry Purcell, Esq; well known by his admirable musical compositions. The inscription consists of this short and comprehensive sentence:

62. The next is the monument of William Croft, Doctor in music. On the pedestal is an organ in bas relief, and on the top, a bust of the deceased,

63. The tomb of John Blow, Doctor in music, is adorned with cherubs, flowers, and a canon in four parts set to music. In the center is an English inscription, by which it appears he was organist, composer, and master to the children in the chapel royal thirty-five years, and organist to this Abbey fifteen years; that he was scholar to Dr. Christopher Gibbons; and master to the famous Mr. Purcell, and to most of the eminent masters of his time. He died Oct. 1. 1708, in his sixtieth year; and his epitaph observes, that his own musical compositions, especially his church music, are a far nobler monument to his memory than any other that can be raised to him.

64. We come now to the neat and elegant monument erected to the memory of Dr. Boulter, Archbishop of Armagh in Ireland. It is of the finest marble beautified with an admirable new invented polish. The bust of this worthy Archbishop is finely executed; his long flowing hair has all the gracefulness of nature, without the smallest degree of that stiffness which belongs to stone; and his venerable countenance strikes the beholder with reverence. The ensigns of his dignity wherewith the monument is adorned, are most exquisitely fine, and every part about it discovers a masterly genius in the sculptor. The inscription is inclosed in a beautiful border of porphyry, and is as follows:

Dr. Hugh Boulter, late Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of all Ireland, a Prelate so eminent for the accomplishments of his mind, the purity of his heart, and the excellence of his life, that it may be thought superfluous to specify his titles, recount his virtues, or even erect a monument to his fame. His titles he not only deserved, but adorned; his virtues are manifest in his good works, which had never dazzled the public eye, if they had not been too bright to be concealed; and as to his fame, whosoever has any sense of merit, any reverence for piety, any passion for his country, or any charity for mankind, will assist in preserving it fair and spotless, that when brass and marble shall mix with the dust they cover, every succeeding age may have the benefit of his illustrious example. He was born Jan. 4, 1671, was consecrated Bishop of Bristol, 1718, translated to the Archbishopric of Armagh, 1723, and from thence to Heaven, Sept. 27, 1742.

65. A plain table monument erected to the memory of Dr. Samuel Bradford, Bishop of Rochester, who died on the 14th of May 1731, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. It contains a long Latin inscription scarce legible, surrounded with the arms, and proper ensigns of his several dignities.

66. The next is a monument erected to the memory of Richard Kane, Esq; Governor of Minorca, adorned with a curious bust of that gentleman in white marble, placed upon a handsome pedestal, whereon are inscribed the most remarkable passages of his life. He was born at Down in Ireland, Dec. 20, 1661. In 1689 he first appeared in a military capacity at the memorable siege of Derry; and after the reduction of Ireland, followed King William into Flanders, where he distinguished himself, particularly by his intrepid behaviour at the siege of Namur, where he was grievously wounded. In 1702, he bore a commission in the service of Queen Anne, and assisted in the expedition to Canada; from whence he again returned into Flanders, and fought under the Duke of Argyle and Greenwich, and afterwards under Lord Carpenter. In 1712, he was made Sub-Governor of Minorca, through which island he caused a road to be made, which had been thought impracticable. In 1720 he was ordered by King George I. to the defence of Gibraltar, where he sustained an eight months siege against the Spaniards, when all hope of relief was extinguished. For which gallant service he was afterwards, by King George II. rewarded with the government of Minorca, where he died Dec. 19, 1736, and was buried in the castle of St. Philip.

67. The monument of Percy Kirk, Esq; is adorned with a fine bust of that gentleman, on each side of which is a winged seraph, one with a dagger in his right hand inverted, and in his left a helmet; the other resting on a ball, and holding in his left hand a torch reversed. The inscription lets us know, that he was Lieutenant-General of his Majesty’s armies; that he was son to Percy Kirk, Lieutenant-General in the reign of King James II. by the Lady Mary, daughter to George Howard Earl of Suffolk, and that he died Jan. 1, 1741, aged fifty-seven.

68. We come now to the monument erected to the memory of that brave commander the Lord Aubrey Beauclerk, ornamented with arms, trophies, and naval ensigns, and in an oval nich on a beautiful pyramid of dove-coloured marble, is a fine bust of that young Hero. On this pyramid is the following historical inscription:

The Lord Aubrey Beauclerk was the youngest son of Charles Duke of St. Albans, by Diana, daughter of Aubrey de Vere Earl of Oxford. He went early to sea, and was made a commander in 1731. In 1740, he was sent upon that memorable expedition to Carthagena, under the command of Admiral Vernon, in his Majesty’s ship the Prince Frederic, which, with three others, was ordered to cannonade the castle of Boccachica. One of these being obliged to quit her station, the Prince Frederic was exposed, not only to the fire from the castle, but to that of Fort St. Joseph, and to two ships that guarded the mouth of the harbour, which he sustained for many hours that day, and part of the next, with uncommon intrepidity. As he was giving his commands upon deck, both his legs were shot off; but such was his magnanimity, that he would not suffer his wounds to be drest, till he communicated his orders to his first Lieutenant, which were, To fight his ship to the last extremity. Soon after this he gave some directions about his private affairs, and then resigned his soul with the dignity of a Hero and a Christian. Thus was he taken off in the thirty-first year of his age, an illustrious commander of superior fortitude and clemency, amiable in his person, steady in his affections, and equalled by few in the social and domestic virtues of politeness, modesty, candour, and benevolence. He married the widow of Col. Francis Alexander, a daughter of Sir Henry Newton, Knt. Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of Florence and the Republic of Genoa, and Judge of the high court of Admiralty.

69. A beautiful monument erected to the memory of Admiral Balchen, on which is his bust well executed in the finest white marble. The enrichments, arms and trophies, are admirably wrought, but in fastening the cable to the anchor this excellent artist has shewn that he is no mariner. In the front is a fine representation of a ship in a storm. The inscription is as follows:

To the memory of Sir John Balchen, Knt. Admiral of the White Squadron of his Majesty’s fleet in 1744, being sent out Commander in chief of the combined fleets of England and Holland, to cruize on the enemy, was on his return home in his Majesty’s ship the Victory, lost in the Channel by a violent storm; from which sad circumstance of his death we may learn, that neither the greatest skill, judgment, or experience, joined to the most firm unshaken resolution, can resist the fury of the winds and waves; and we are taught from the passages of his life, which were filled with great and gallant actions, but ever accompanied with adverse gales of fortune, that the brave, the worthy and the good man, meets not always his reward in this world. Fifty-eight years of faithful and painful services he had passed, when being just retired to the government of Greenwich Hospital to wear out the remainder of his days, he was once more, and for the last time, called out by his King and Country, whose interest he ever preferred to his own, and his unwearied zeal for their service ended only in his death; which weighty misfortune to his afflicted family became heightened by many aggravating circumstances attending it; yet amidst their grief had they the mournful consolation to find his gracious and royal Master mixing his concern with the general lamentations of the public, for the calamitous fate of so zealous, so valiant, and so able a Commander; and as a lasting memorial of the sincere love and esteem borne by his widow, to a most affectionate and worthy husband, this honorary monument was erected by her. He was born Feb. 2, 1669, married Susannah, daughter of Col. Apreece of Washingly in the County of Huntingdon. Died Oct. 7, 1744, leaving one son and one daughter, the former of whom, George Balchen, survived him but a short time; for being sent to the West Indies in 1745, Commander of his Majesty’s ship the Pembroke, he died in Barbadoes in December the same year, aged 28, having walked in the steps, and imitated the virtue and bravery of his good, but unfortunate father.

70. A noble and elegant monument erected in honour of General Guest. It is adorned with a pyramid and base of the most beautiful Egyptian porphyry, ornamented with the finest enrichments, and on the latter is an admirable bust of the General of white marble. The whole is executed in the most delicate and masterly manner. It has this short, but apposite inscription:

Sacred to those virtues that adorn a Christian and a Soldier, this marble perpetuates the memory of Lieut. Gen. Joshua Guest, who closed a service of sixty years by faithfully defending Edinburgh castle against the Rebels, 1745.

71. The next worthy of notice is the elegant monument of Sir Charles Wager. The principal figure here is that of Fame holding a portrait of Sir Charles in relief, which is also supported by an infant Hercules. The enrichments are naval trophies, instruments of war and navigation, &c. on the base is represented in relief the destroying and taking of the Spanish galleons in 1708, The inscription is as follows:

To the memory of Sir Charles Wager, Knt.

Admiral of the White, first Commissioner of the Admiralty,

And Privy Counsellor;

A man of great natural talents,

Who bore the highest commands,

And pass’d through the greatest employments,

With credit to himself, and honour to his country.

He was in private life

Humane, temperate, just, and bountiful:

In public station,

Valiant, prudent, wise, and honest:

Easy of access to all;

Plain and unaffected in his manners,

Steady and resolute in his conduct:

So remarkably happy in his presence of mind,

That no danger ever discompos’d him;

Esteemed and favoured by his King;

Beloved and honoured by his Country.

He died 24 May 1743. Aged 77.

72. The next tomb in the Abbey that demands our attention, is that erected to the memory of John Hollis Duke of Newcastle, by his daughter the Countess of Oxford. This is perhaps the loftiest and most costly of any in the Abbey. A pediment is supported by beautiful columns of variegated marble. The Duke is represented resting upon a sepulchral monument, holding in his right hand a General’s staff, and in his left a ducal coronet. On one side the base stands a statue of Wisdom, on the other, of Sincerity. On the angles of the upper compartment sit angels, and on the ascending sides of the pediment sit two cherubs, one with an hour-glass, alluding to the admeasurement of man’s life by grains of sand; the other pointing upwards, where life shall no longer be measured by hours and minutes. On the base is an inscription enumerating his Grace’s titles, and several employments; his marriage and issue; and informing us that he was born Jan. 9, 1661–2, and died July 15, 1711.

73. The monument of William Cavendish Duke of Newcastle is also very pompous, but is in the old taste. Under a rich canopy of state lie, as the inscription expresses it, “The loyal Duke of Newcastle, and his Duchess, his second wife, by whom he had no issue: her name was Margaret Lucas, youngest sister to Lord Lucas of Colchester, a noble family; for all the brothers were valiant, and all the sisters virtuous. The Duchess was a wise, witty, and learned Lady, which her many books do well testify: She was a most virtuous, and a loving and careful wife, and was with her Lord all the time of his banishment and miseries; and when he came home, never parted from him in his solitary retirements.” This is the English inscription. The Latin gives his titles and employments; and observes, that for his fidelity to King Charles I. he was made Captain-General of the forces raised for his service in the North, fought many battles, and generally came off victorious; but that when the rebels prevailed (being one of the first designed a sacrifice) he left his estate, and endured a long exile. It then gives his issue by his first wife, and concludes with observing, that he died Dec. 27, 1676, in his eighty-fourth year.

Grace, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Mauleverer of Allerton Mauleverer in Yorkshire, Bart. born 1622, married unto Col. Scott, a member of the Hon. House of Commons 1644, and died Feb. 24, 1645.

75. The monument of Dame Mary James is neatly ornamented with an urn, wreathed and crowned with a Viscount’s coronet, on a handsome pedestal The inscription observes that this Lady was wife to Sir John James, of the ancient family of the Lords of Hostrick in Holland, and that she died Nov. 6, 1667.

76. A magnificent and elegant monument of white marble to the memory of Sir Peter Warren, done by Roubiliac. Close to the wall is a large flag hanging to the flag-staff, and spreading in very natural folds behind the whole monument. Before it is a fine figure of Hercules placing Sir Peter’s bust on its pedestal; and on the other side, Victory, with a laurel wreath in her hand, is seated gazing on the bust with a look of melancholy mixed with admiration. Behind her a Cornucopia pours out fruit, corn, the fleece, &c. and by it is a cannon, an anchor, and other decorations. The inscription is as follows:

He derived his descent from an ancient Family of Ireland,

His fame and honours from his virtues and abilities.

How eminently these were displayed,

With what vigilance and spirit they were exerted,

In the various services wherein he had the honour to command,

And the happiness to conquer,

Will be more properly recorded in the annals of

GREAT BRITAIN.

On this tablet, affection with truth may say,

That deservedly esteemed in private life,

And universally renowned for his public conduct,

The judicious and gallant officer

Possessed all the amiable qualities of the Friend,

The Gentleman, and the Christian.

But the ALMIGHTY,

Whom alone he feared,

And whose gracious protection he had often experienced,

Was pleased to remove him from a life of honour

To an eternity of happiness,

On the 29th day of July 1752, in the 49th year of his age.

77. The monument inscribed to the memory of Sir Gilbert Lort, of Stackpole in Pembrokeshire, who died Sept. 19, 1698, was erected to his memory by his sister Dame Elizabeth Campbell of Calder in Scotland. The author of The Review of the public buildings, &c. observes, that the two boys here placed on each side a little tomb, are in a very pretty taste, and a perfect contrast to each other; one representing passionate, exclamatory grief, and the other still and silent; and adds, “’Tis pity they are divided by so bad an ornament in the middle: had they leaned on a single urn, which, in the antique taste, might have been supposed to hold his ashes, they would have had a fine effect, and challenged more admiration than many a more pompous and expensive pile.”

78. The monument erected to Hugh Chamberlayne, M.D. was some years ago esteemed one of the best pieces in the Abbey; but some of the later monuments greatly exceed it. The principal figure lies, as it were, at ease, upon a tomb stone, leaning upon his right arm, with his hand upon his night cap, and his head uncovered. In his left hand, he holds a book, to shew his intense application to study. On each side are the emblems of Physic and Longevity; and over his head, is Fame descending with a trumpet in one hand, and a wreath in the other. On the top are weeping cherubs, and on the pedestal a long Latin inscription, which mentions his great knowledge and industry in his profession, his humanity in relieving the sick, and his affinities and connections in social and private life. He died June 17, 1728, aged sixty-four.

79. The tomb of Almericus de Courcy, Baron of Kinsale, in Ireland, is ornamented with the figure of his Lordship in armour, reposing himself after the fatigues of an active life, under a gilded canopy. The inscription shews, that he was descended from the famous John de Courcy, Earl of Ulster, who in the reign of King John, in consideration of his great valour, obtained the extraordinary privilege for him and his heirs, of being covered in the King’s presence. Almericus de Courcy died Feb. 9, 1719, aged fifty-seven.

80. The monument of Sir Thomas Duppa is adorned with flowers and foliage, and on the top with an urn wreathed. The inscription shews, that Sir Thomas in his youth waited upon King Charles II. when Prince of Wales, and at length became Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, in which office he died April 25, 1694, aged 75.

81. We come now to a monument that has been much admired, and as much censured, that of Dame Elizabeth Carteret, who died on the 26th of March, 1717, aged fifty-two. This Lady is represented springing upwards, with only one foot fixed to the earth, and a little winged seraph descending to receive her; but the disproportions are so great between them, that one cannot help thinking, that it is much more likely she should pull the aerial messenger down, than he raise her one inch from the ground; but what is still worse, her attitude is such, that it is impossible she should know that he is coming to give her a lift. Below her hovering on the base, is another of these heavenly spirits unfolding a very indifferent epitaph.

82. We come now to the grand and magnificent monument of the great Sir Isaac Newton, whose statue is formed recumbent, leaning his right arm on four folios, thus titled Divinity, Chronology, Optics, and Phil: Prin: Math: and pointing to a scroll supported by cherubs. Over him is a large globe projecting from a pyramid behind, whereon is delineated the course of the comet in 1680, with the signs, constellations and planets. On this globe sits the figure of Astronomy, with her book closed, in a very thoughtful composed and pensive mood. Beneath the principal figure is a very fine bas relief, representing the various labours in which Sir Isaac chiefly employed his time: such as discovering the cause of gravitation, settling the principles of light and colours, and reducing the coinage to a determined standard. The inscription on the pedestal is in Latin, short, but full of meaning, intimating, that by a spirit nearly divine, he solved on principles of his own, the motion and figure of the planets, the paths of the comets, and the ebbing and flowing of the sea; that he discovered the dissimularity of the rays of light, and the properties of colours from thence arising, which none but himself had ever dreamt of; that he was a diligent, wise and faithful interpreter of nature, antiquity, and the holy scriptures; that by his philosophy he maintained the dignity of the Supreme Being; and by the purity of his life, the simplicity of the gospel; and it concludes with a just exclamation, What reason have mortals to pride themselves in the existence of so great an ornament to the human race! He was born Dec. 25, 1642, and died in 1726.

So noble a monument erected to real merit, is a greater honour to the nation than to the great genius for whom it was raised; in this light it is viewed by all Europe.

83. On the other side of the entrance into the choir is another lofty and pompous monument. This last was erected to the memory of Earl Stanhope, who is also represented leaning upon his arm in a recumbent posture, holding in his right hand a General’s staff, and in his left a parchment scroll. Before him stands a cupid resting upon a shield. Over a martial tent sits Minerva, holding in her right hand a javelin, and in the other a scroll. Behind is a slender pyramid. On the middle of the pedestal are two medalions, and on each side the pilasters one. In short, under the principal figure is a Latin inscription, displaying the merits of this great man, as a soldier, a statesman, and a senator: observing, that in 1707, he concluded an advantageous peace with Spain; and the same year was sent Embassador to Charles III. In 1708, he took Port Mahon: In 1710, he forced his way to the gates of Madrid, and took possession of that capital: In 1715, being of the Secret Committee, he impeached the Duke of Ormond. In 1717 he was made first Commissioner of the treasury, and Chancellor of the exchequer; and in July following was created a Peer. He died in 1721, in the forty-seventh year of his age.

84. Mr. Thynne’s monument has always been esteemed a very fine one. That gentleman is represented dying, and at his feet is a boy weeping. Underneath on a table of black marble in white letters is this short inscription:

Thomas Thynne of Longleate in Com. Wilts, Esq; who was barbarously murdered on Sunday the 12th of February, 1682.

This last observation makes it necessary to give the particulars of this murder, which we shall do from a very accurate, tho’ small work, from which we have obtained considerable assistance in the description of many things relating to the Abbey. The above murder was conspired by Count Koningsmark, and executed by three assassins hired for that purpose, who shot this unhappy gentleman in Pall-Mall, in his own coach. The motive was, to obtain the rich heiress of Northumberland in marriage, who in her infancy had been betrothed to the Earl of Ogle, but left a widow before consummation; and afterwards married to Mr. Thynne; but being scarce fifteen, and her mother extremely tender of her, and at the same time desirous of her having issue, prevailed upon her husband to travel another year before he bedded her, in which time she became acquainted with Koningsmark at the Court of Hanover. Whether she had ever given him any countenance is uncertain; but having no grounds to hope to obtain her while her husband lived, he in this villainous manner accomplished his death: the Lady, however, detested this base and inhuman conduct, and soon after married the great Duke of Somerset.—At the time this happened, a report was spread that Mr. Thynne had formerly debauched a woman of family and character, on honourable pretences; but upon his uncle’s leaving him 10,000l. a year; he basely deserted her; whence arose the saying, that he had escaped his misfortune, if he had either married the Lady he had lain with, or lain with the Lady he had married. But we do not pretend to insinuate that there was any truth in this story. It may probably be only a cruel piece of defamation. Historical Description of Westminster Abbey.

85. The monument of Dame Grace Gethin, is ornamented with a figure of a Lady devoutly kneeling, with a book in her right hand, and her left on her breast; on each side is an angel, one holding over her head a crown, and the other a chaplet; and on the ascending sides of the pediment are two female figures in a mournful posture. It is adorned with three different coats of family arms, and on the base is an English inscription, which also lets us know that she was married to Sir Richard Gethin of Gethin Grott in Ireland; was famed for her exemplary piety, and wrote a book of devotions, which Mr. Congreve has complimented with a poem. She died Oct. 11, 1697, aged twenty-one.

86. A monument erected to the memory of two sisters, the daughters of Ralph Freke of Hannington in Wilts, Esq; whose busts in relief ornament the sides. The inscription observes, that the eldest, named Elizabeth, was married to Percey Freke of West Bilney in Norfolk, and died on the 7th of April 1714; that Judith the youngest married Robert Austin of Tenterden in Kent, and died May 19, 1716: and that they were both the best of daughters, the best of wives, and the best of mothers.

87. A large monument of black marble erected to the memory of Sir Thomas Richardson, Lord Chief Justice of England in the reign of King Charles I. He died in 1634, and his tomb is adorned with his effigy in brass, lying in his robes, and his collar of S S.

88. An ancient monument raised to the memory of William Thynne of Botterville, Esq.; it is of marble and alabaster gilt, and is adorned with the statue of that gentleman lying at full length. The inscription informs us, that he was a polite gentleman, a great traveller, and a brave soldier, and that he died on the 14th of March 1584.

89. A very handsome monument erected for that learned grammarian Dr. Busby, master of Westminster school; who is represented in his gown, looking earnestly at the inscription; holding in his right hand a pen, and in his left a book open. Upon the pedestal underneath are a variety of books, and at the top is his family arms. The inscription is a very elegant one, and intimates whatsoever fame the school of Westminster boasts, and whatever advantages mankind shall reap from thence in future times, are all principally owing to the wise institutions of this gentleman, who was born at Lutton in Lincolnshire, Sept. 22, 1606, and after being made Master of Westminster college was elected Prebendary of Westminster, and Treasurer of Wells. He died April 5, 1695.

90. The next monument, is that erected to the memory of Robert South, D.D. who is represented in a recumbent posture in his canonical habit, with his arm resting on a cushion, and his right hand on a death’s head. In his left he holds a book with his finger between the leaves, as if just closed from reading, and over his head is a group of cherubs issuing from a mantling. This monument is however very badly executed, and the statue is clumsy and unmeaning. It has a long Latin inscription, shewing that this celebrated divine was scholar to Dr. Busby, and student at Christ Church, Oxford; that by the patronage of the Lord Clarendon he was made Prebendary both of Westminster and Christ Church, and afterwards rector of Islip, where he rebuilt the parsonage house, and founded and endowed a school for the education of poor children. He died on the 8th of July 1718, aged eighty-two.

The Monuments in the Cloisters. The most ancient of these are towards the east end of the south walk, where lie the remains of four Abbots marked in the pavement by four stones.

The first of these covers the Abbot Vitales, who died in 1082, and was formerly covered with brass plates.

The second is of grey marble, to the memory of Gislebertus Crispinus, who died in 1114, and whose effigies may still be traced on the stone.

Under the third, which is a raised stone of Sussex marble, lies the Abbot Laurentius, who died in 1176, and is said to be the first who obtained from Pope Alexander III. the privilege of using the mitre, ring and globe.

The last is of black marble, and covers the ashes of Gervasius de Blois, who was natural son to King Stephen, and died in 1166. This is called Long Meg, from its extraordinary length, it being eleven feet eight inches. All these seem to have had their names and dates cut afresh.

In the east walk is a handsome monument erected to the memory of Daniel Pulteney, Esq; facing those of the above Abbots; the inscription on which is much admired for the purity of the diction, and its propriety and elegance, and is as follows:

Reader,

If thou art a Briton,

Behold this tomb with reverence and regret.

Here lieth the remains of

Daniel Pulteney,

The kindest relation, the truest friend,

The warmest patriot, the worthiest man;

He exercised virtues in this age,

Sufficient to have distinguished him even in the best.

Sagacious by nature,

Industrious by habit,

Inquisitive with art,

He gain’d a compleat knowledge of the state of Britain,

Foreign and domestic.

In most the backward fruit of tedious experience,

In him the early acquisition of undissipated youth.

He served the court several years:

Abroad in the auspicious reign of Queen Anne,

At home, in the reign of that excellent Prince K. George the First.

He served his country always,

At court independent,

In the senate unbiass’d,

At every age, and in every station:

This was the bent of his generous soul,

This was the business of his laborious life.

Public men, and public things,

He judged by one constant standard,

The true interest of Britain;

He made no other distinction of party,

He abhorred all other:

Gentle, humane, disinterested, beneficent,

He created no enemies on his own account:

Firm, determined, inflexible,

He feared none he could create in the cause of Britain.

Reader,

In this misfortune of thy country, lament thy own:

For know

The loss of so much private virtue

Is a public calamity.

Almost at the end of the north east walk is a monument against the Abbey wall to the memory of the Rev. Mr. William Laurence, the inscription on which is remarkable for its quaintness, and is as follows:

Henry the Seventh’s Chapel. As this is a separate building from Westminster Abbey, we did not think proper to confound it with the other chapels; and as it is joined to the Abbey, we did not chuse to render it so distinct an article as it would have been, had we given it the place it would have demanded in the order of the alphabet. It is to be examined at the same time with that edifice, and we have followed the example of the architect in uniting them.

This chapel, which was founded by Henry VII. in the year 1502, and the succeeding years, is styled by Leland the wonder of the world. It is situated to the east of the Abbey, to which it is so neatly joined, that on a superficial view it appears to be one and the same building. It is supported by fourteen Gothic buttresses, all beautifully ornamented, and projecting from the building in different angles, and is enlightened by a double range of windows that throw the light into such a happy disposition as at once to please the eye, and afford a kind of solemn gloom. These buttresses extend up to the roof, and are made to strengthen it by their being crowned with Gothic arches. In these buttresses are niches, in which formerly stood a number of statues; but these being greatly decayed, have been long taken down.

This chapel is one of the most expensive remains of the ancient English taste and magnificence; there is no looking upon it without admiration: yet, perhaps, its beauty consists much more eminently in the workmanship than the contrivance. The plate shews the outside, where it joins to the Abbey, and gives some idea of the fine taste of Gothic architecture in that age, which seems to have been its meridian; but it soon fell into the bad taste practised in the time of Queen Elizabeth, as may be seen in the tomb of this Queen and her predecessor in the side aisles of this chapel.

This may be sufficient for the outside of this edifice, the entrance to which is from the east end of the Abbey, by a flight of steps of black marble, under a very noble arch, that leads to the gates opening to the body or nave of the chapel: for, like a cathedral it is divided into a nave and side isles, to which you may enter by a door on each hand. The gates at the entrance of the nave are of brass curiously wrought in the manner of frame work, and have in every other open pannel a rose and portcullis alternately.

Being entered, the eye is naturally directed to the lofty ceiling, in the most admirable manner wrought with such an astonishing variety of figures as is impossible to be described. The stalls on each side are of oak, with Gothic canopies, most beautifully carved, as are also the seats; and the pavement is of black and white marble, laid at the charge of Dr. Killigrew, once Prebendary of this Abbey. The east view from the entrance presents you with the brass chapel and tomb of the founder, which will be hereafter described, and round it where the east end forms a semicircle, are the chapels of the Dukes of Buckingham and Richmond. At that end the side isles open to the nave. It must not be omitted, that the walls both of the nave and the side isles are adorned with the most curious imagery imaginable, and contain an hundred and twenty statues of patriarchs, saints, martyrs and confessors, under which are angels supporting imperial crowns, besides innumerable small ones, all of them esteemed so curious, that the best masters are said to have travelled from abroad to copy them. The roof of the side isles is flattish, and supported on arches between the nave and side isles turning upon twelve stately Gothic pillars, curiously adorned with figures, fruitage and foliage. The windows, besides a spacious one at the east end, are thirteen on each side above and as many below, and were formerly painted, having in each pane a white rose, the badge of the house of Lancaster, a B the initial letter of the founder’s name, or portcullises crowned, the badge of the Beaufort’s family, of which there are some now remaining.

This chapel was originally designed as a sepulchre appropriated solely to the use of those of royal blood; and so far has the will of the founder been observed, that none have been yet interred there, but those of high quality, whose descent may generally be traced from some of our ancient Kings: I shall therefore mention each of these tombs, beginning with that which is the most ancient, as well as the most astonishing.

It has been already observed, that in the middle of the east end of the nave is situated the magnificent tomb of Henry VII. this is enclosed with a screen of cast brass, most admirably designed, and executed; this screen is nineteen feet in length, eleven in breadth, and the same in height. It is ornamented with statues, of which those only of St. James, St. Bartholomew, St. George, and St. Edward, are now remaining; and also adorned with other devices alluding to King Henry the Seventh’s family; as portcullises, signifying his relation to the Beaufort’s by his mother’s side; roses twisted and crowned, in memory of the union of the two houses of Lancaster and York, by his marriage; and at each end a crown in a bush, alluding to the crown of Richard III. found in a hawthorn bush, near Bosworth field, where the famous battle was fought in which Richard lost his life. Within the rails are the effigies of the royal pair, in their robes of state, on a tomb of black marble, the head whereof is supported by a red dragon the ensign of Cadwalladar, from whom King Henry VII. was fond of tracing his descent, and the foot by an angel.

At the head of this tomb lie the remains of Edward VI. grandson to Henry VII. who died in the sixteenth year of his age, and the seventh of his reign. A fine monument was erected to his memory by Queen Mary, his sister and successor; it was adorned with curious sculpture representing the passion and resurrection of our Saviour; with two angels on the top kneeling; and the whole elegantly finished; but it was afterwards demolished as a relict of Popish superstition.

On one side of Henry the Seventh’s tomb in a small chapel, in which is the monument of Lewis Stuart Duke of Richmond, and Frances his wife; whose statues in cast brass are represented lying on a marble table under a canopy of brass curiously wrought, and supported by the figures of Faith, Hope, Charity, and Prudence; and on the top is a figure of Fame taking her flight, and resting only on her toe.

On the north side of Henry the Seventh’s tomb is a monument decorated with several emblematical figures in brass gilt; the principal is Neptune in a pensive posture with his trident reversed, and Mars with his head crushed; these support the tomb on which lie the effigies of George Villars Duke of Buckingham, the great favourite of King James I. and King Charles I. who fell a sacrifice to the national resentment by the hand of Felton. His Grace married Catharine, daughter to the Earl of Rutland, who erected this monument to his memory, and lies in effigy on the same tomb by his side. The Latin inscription, after recounting his noble qualities, and high titles, alludes to the story of his death.

Of a later date, and superior in point of design and workmanship, is a noble monument erected to the memory of John Sheffield Duke of Buckingham, where his Grace’s statue in a Roman habit, is laid in a half raised posture on an altar of fine marble: his Duchess is represented standing at his feet weeping. On each side are military trophies; and over all an admirable figure of Time holding several medallions representing the heads of their Graces children. This monument is very justly admired. It has been observed, that the Duke himself appears the principal figure in the group, and though he lies in a recumbent posture, and his Lady is in the most beautiful manner placed at his feet, yet her figure is so characterized, as to be only a guide to his, and both reflect back a beauty on each other. The decorations are allowed to be extremely picturesque and elegant; the trophies at his head, the figure of Time above, with the medallions of his children, fill up all the spaces with such propriety, that little could be added, and nothing appears superfluous. The inscription sets forth the Duke of Buckingham’s posts, and his qualifications as a good poet, and a fine writer; and over his statue is inscribed in Latin sentences to the following purpose:

His Grace died in the 57th year of his age, Feb. 24, 1720, leaving the publication of his works to the care of Mr. Pope. He had three wives; the first, Ursula, Countess of Coventry; the second, Catharine, Countess of Gainsborough; the third, Catharine, Countess of Anglesey.

In this isle there is a lofty pyramid supported by two griffins of gilt brass, on a pedestal of the most curious marble, erected to the memory of Charles Montague, Marquis of Halifax, son to George Montague of Horton. He was placed at the head of the treasury in the reign of King Charles I. and undertaking the reformation of the coin, which was then most infamously clipped, he restored it to its proper value. For this, and other public services, he was first created Baron, and then Marquis of Halifax.

Against the east wall at the end of the north isle is a monument in the form of a beautiful altar, raised by King Charles II. to the memory of Edward V. and his brother Richard, on which is an inscription in Latin, to the following purport:

Here lie the reliques of Edward V. King of England, and Richard Duke of York, who, being confined in the Tower, and there stifled with pillows, were privately and meanly buried, by order of their perfidious uncle Richard the Usurper. Their bones, long enquired after and wished for, after lying two hundred and one years in the rubbish of the stairs, lately leading to the chapel of the White Tower, were on the 17th of July 1674, by undoubted proofs discovered; being buried deep in that place. Charles II. pitying their unhappy fate, ordered these unfortunate Princes to be laid amongst the reliques of their predecessors, in the year 1678, and the 20th of his reign.

At the east end of the same isle is a vault in which are deposited the bodies of King James I. and Anne his Queen, daughter to Frederic II. King of Denmark.

Over this vault is a small tomb adorned with the figure of a child, erected to the memory of Mary the third daughter of James I. who was born at Greenwich in 1605, and died at two years old.

There is also another monument on which is the representation of a child in a cradle, erected to the memory of Sophia, the fourth daughter of the same King, who was born at Greenwich in 1606, and died three days after.

In the same isle is a lofty monument erected to the memory of Queen Elizabeth by King James I. her successor. The inscription represents her character, high descent, and the memorable acts of her glorious reign, “That she was the mother of her country, and the patroness of religion and learning; was herself skilled in many languages, adorned with every excellence of mind and person, and endowed with princely virtues beyond her sex: that in her reign religion was refined to its original purity; peace was established; money restored to its just value; domestic insurrections quelled; France delivered from intestine troubles; the Netherlands supported; the Spanish Armada defeated; Ireland, almost lost by the secret contrivances of Spain, recovered; the revenues of both universities improved by a law of provisions; and, in short, all England enriched. That she was a most prudent Governess, forty-five years a virtuous and triumphant Queen; truly religious, and blest in all her great affairs; and that after a calm and resigned death in the 70th year of her age, she left her mortal part to be deposited in this church, which she established upon a new footing, till by the word of Christ she is called to immortality.” She died March 24, 1602.

In the south isle is a lofty and pompous tomb erected to the memory of Mary Queen of Scots, the mother of King James I. who flying into England from her rebellious subjects, was taken prisoner, tried and condemned for conspiring the death of Queen Elizabeth, and on the 8th of February 1587, beheaded on a scaffold erected in the hall of Fotheringhay Castle, in Northamptonshire. She was afterwards pompously interred by order of Queen Elizabeth, in the cathedral church of Peterborough; but upon the accession of her son to the throne of England, he ordered her remains to be removed from thence, and placed near this monument.

Near the last monument is a tomb enclosed with iron rails, on which lies a Lady also finely robed, the effigies of Margaret Douglas, daughter of Margaret Queen of Scots by the Earl of Angus. Her son the Lord Darnely, father to King James I. is represented foremost on the tomb kneeling, with the crown over his head, and there are seven other of her children represented round the tomb. This great Lady, though she herself never sat on the throne, had, according to the English inscription, King Edward IV. to her great grandfather; Henry VII. to her grandfather; Henry VIII. to her uncle; Edward VI. to her cousin german; James V. of Scotland to her brother; Henry I. of Scotland to her son; James VI. to her brother. Having to her great grandmother and grandmother two Queens, both named Elizabeth; to her mother, Margaret Queen of Scots; to her aunt, Mary the French Queen; to her cousins german, Mary and Elizabeth Queens of England; and to her niece and daughter-in-law, Mary Queen of Scots. This great Lady died March 10, 1577.

In the south side is likewise the monument of Margaret Countess of Richmond, mother to Henry VII. by her first husband Henry Tudor. She was afterwards married to Humphry Stafford, a younger son to Humphry Duke of Buckingham, and at last to Thomas Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby; but by the two last had no children. The inscription mentions the charities of this humane and generous Princess, particularly her founding two colleges at Oxford, Christ Church and St. John’s; and a grammar school at Winbourne. She died in July 1509, in the reign of her grandson Henry VIII.

At the east end of this isle is the royal vault of King Charles II., King William III., Queen Mary his Consort, Queen Anne, and Prince George.

Over these royal Personages are their effigies (except that of Prince George) in wainscot presses; they are of wax work resembling life, and dressed in their coronation robes.

Another wainscot press is placed at the corner of the great east window, in which is the effigy of the Lady Mary Duchess of Richmond, daughter to James Duke of Richmond and Lenox, dressed in the very robes her Grace wore at the coronation of Queen Anne.

On leaving this isle you will be shewn in another wainscot press the effigies of General Monk, who had a great share in the restoration of King Charles II. to the throne of England, and was interred in a vault appropriated to him and his family. He is represented in armour, and his ducal cap is generally made use of by those who shew this chapel, to receive the bounty of those who visit it; these persons having no share of the money paid for seeing it.

Thus have we given a description of every thing remarkable in the Abbey, and that venerable pile adjoining to it, called Henry the Seventh’s chapel; we have mentioned and described the monuments in both that are worthy of notice, and we shall conclude this article with the following reflections, extracted from an ingenious writer, on this subject.

“However amiable fame may be to the living, ’tis certain no advantage to the dead, whatever dangers they have dared, whatever toils they have undergone, whatever difficulties they have surmounted; the grave is deaf to the voice of applause, and the dust of the noble and vulgar sleep in the same obscurity together. ’Tis possible the conscious spirit may have an idea of the honour that is paid to his ashes; but ’tis much more probable, that the prospect of this imaginary glory, while he lived among us, was all the pleasure it ever could afford him. I make this observation, because most monuments are said to be erected as an honour to the dead, and the living are supposed to be the least concerned in them: but one man’s fame is made the foundation of another’s, in the same manner with the gentleman’s, who ordered this sentence to be made his epitaph; Here lies Sir Philip Sidney’s friend. Some there are that mention only the names of the persons whose dust they cover, and preserve a noble silence with regard to the hand that raised them; but even here, the dead can receive no benefit from such disinterested affection; but the living may profit much by so noble an example. Another thing that displeases me is the manner of the inscriptions, which frequently mistake the very design of engraving them, and as frequently give the lie to themselves. To pore one’s self blind in guessing out Æternæ Memoriæ Sacrum, is a jest, that would make Heraclitus laugh; and yet most of them begin in that pompous taste, without the least reflection that brass and marble can’t preserve them from the tooth of Time; and if men’s actions have not guarded their reputations, the proudest monument would flatter in vain. Sepulchral monuments should be always considered as the last public tribute paid to virtue; as a proof of our regard for noble characters, and most particularly as an excitement to others to emulate the great example.

“It is certain there is not a nobler amusement, than a walk in Westminster Abbey, among the tombs of heroes, patriots, poets, and philosophers; you are surrounded with the shades of your great forefathers; you feel the influence of their venerable society, and grow fond of fame and virtue in the contemplation: ’tis the finest school of morality, and the most beautiful flatterer of imagination in nature. I appeal to any man’s mind that has any taste for what is sublime and noble, for a witness to the pleasure he experiences on this occasion; and I dare believe he will acknowledge, that there is no entertainment so various, or so instructive. For my own part, I have spent many an hour of pleasing melancholy in its venerable walks; and have been more delighted with the solemn conversation of the dead, than the most sprightly sallies of the living. I have examined the characters that were inscribed before me, and distinguished every particular virtue. The monuments of real fame, I have viewed with real respect; but the piles that wanted a character to excuse them, I considered as the monuments of folly. I have wandered with pleasure into the most gloomy recesses of this last resort of grandeur, to contemplate human life, and trace mankind thro’ all the wilderness of their frailties and misfortunes, from their cradles to their grave. I have reflected on the shortness of our duration here, and that I was but one of the millions who had been employed in the same manner, in ruminating on the trophies of mortality before me; that I must moulder to dust in the same manner, and quit the scene to a new generation, without leaving the shadow of my existence behind me; that this huge fabric, this sacred repository of fame and grandeur, would only be the stage for the same performances; would receive new accessions of noble dust; would be adorned with other sepulchres of cost and magnificence; would be crouded with successive admirers; and at last, by the unavoidable decays of time, bury the whole collection of antiquities in general obscurity, and be the monument of its own ruin.”

Abbots Langley, a village in Hertfordshire, situated to the east of Kings Langley, and three or four miles to the S. W. of St. Alban’s, to whose abbey it once belonged. It is famous for being the birth place of Nicholas Breakspeare, who was made Pope by the title of Adrian IV. and had his stirrup held by the Emperor Frederic while he dismounted: but notwithstanding his pride, it is a still more indelible stain to his memory, that when Sovereign Pontiff, he suffer’d his mother to be maintained by the alms of the church of Canterbury. This place gives the title of Baron to the Lord Raymond, who has a seat in this neighbourhood.

Abbs Court, in the parish of Walton upon Thames in Surrey. The Lord of this Manor, which is also called Aps, used formerly upon All-Saints Day to give a barrel of beer, and a quarter of corn baked into loaves, to as many poor as came. This charity was begun in the days of Popery, in order, as ’tis supposed, to encourage the prayers for deliverance of souls out of purgatory.

Abchurch lane, 1. Gracechurch street.☐ 2.Lombard street.☐ See St. Mary Abchurch.

Acton (East) a village six miles from London, a little to the north of the Oxford Road, noted for the medicinal wells near it, which are frequented in the summer months.

Adam and Eve court, 1. Oxford street.* 2. Tottenham court road.* 3. West Smithfield.* 4. Hatchet alley, Whitechapel. 5. Petticoat lane.*

Adam’s court, 1. Little Broad street.† 2. Pig street.† 3. Sharp’s buildings, Duke’s place.† 4. Near Swan’s close.†

Addington, a village in Surrey, three miles from Croydon, situated at the descent of a high spacious common to which it gives name. Its church, though said to be above 300 years old, is still very firm. But what is most remarkable, is, that the Lord of the Manor held it in the reign of Henry III. by the service of making his Majesty a mess of pottage in an earthen pot in the King’s kitchen at his coronation; and so late as the coronation of King Charles II. Thomas Leigh, Esq; then Lord of the Manor, made a mess according to his tenure, and brought it to his Majesty’s table, when that King accepted of his service, though he did not taste what he had prepared.

Admiralty court. This court, which is held in Doctors Commons, was formerly under the direction of the Lord High Admiral, as it is now under the Lords of the Admiralty, who here take cognisance of all causes relating to merchants and mariners. The proceedings are in the Civil Law. The plaintiff gives security to prosecute, and if cast, to pay what shall be adjudged, and likewise to stand to all his proctor shall transact in his name. But in criminal cases, as the trial of pirates, and crimes committed at sea, the process, by a special commission, is by a judge, jury and witnesses, a Judge of the Common Law assisting: on which occasion the court is commonly held at the Session-house in the Old Bailey. The officers of this court are the Judge of the Admiralty, who must be a Civilian, an Advocate and Proctor, a Register, and a Marshal, who carries a silver oar before the Judge.

Admiralty office, an edifice built with brick and stone, on the west side of the street, opposite to Scotland yard. The east front, which is that represented in the print, has two deep wings, and is entered by a very lofty portico supported by four very large stone columns of the Ionic Order, to which there is an ascent by a few steps.

The importance of this building is what recommends it to notice. The portico, which was intended as an ornament, rather disgusts than pleases, by the immoderate height and ill shape of the columns.

In this office are transacted all martime affairs belonging to the jurisdiction of the Admiralty, who here regulate the affairs of the navy; nominate Admirals, Captains, and other officers to serve on board his Majesty’s ships of war, and give orders for the trial of those who have failed in their duty, or been guilty of other irregularities.

Adscomb, in Surrey near Croydon, is the seat of William Draper, Esq; the paintings and furniture of which are fine.

Affidavit office, in Symond’s inn. This office belongs to the Masters in Chancery, where one or more of them constantly attend to take affidavits, and there all affidavits belonging to the Court of Chancery are filed.

African Company. The English first sent ships to Africa on account of commerce about the year 1553, from which time the trade to that country was carried on by private hands till 1588, when Queen Elizabeth, by her letters patent, erected a company, for the more effectual promoting of that trade, which then was only for gold, elephants teeth, and Guinea pepper; for the use of negroes was not yet introduced into America.

This company was greatly encouraged during the reigns of James I. and Charles I. but the Dutch taking several forts on the coast of Africa from the Portuguese, committed great depredations on the English, upon which Charles II. the better to enable his subjects to carry on that trade, incorporated a body of merchants, in the year 1662, by the title of The Company of Royal Adventurers of England to Africa: but the subscriptions for carrying on this precarious commerce not answering the expectation of the incorporated merchants, they were soon involved in debt, and reduced to such difficulties as rendered them unable to continue their trade to advantage; wherefore they agreed for a certain sum, to surrender their charter to the crown, and to assign all their estates and effects both at home and abroad to certain merchants, who intended to erect a new company, for the more effectual carrying on a trade to Africa: these merchants the King incorporated in the year 1672, and these were the Royal African company, who had a power to trade from the port of Sallee, to the Cape of Good Hope, exclusive of all the King’s other subjects, during the term of a thousand years.

By virtue of this royal grant, the company made a considerable progress in erecting forts, and settling factors: but their trade being laid open by parliament in the year 1697, they were rendered unable to support their forts, it was therefore enacted, that all private traders to Africa should pay ten per cent. to the company for that purpose.

This duty did not however answer the end for which it was granted, and the company was obliged to apply to parliament in the year 1730 for relief, when they obtained a certain sum for that purpose, and it was enacted that all his Majesty’s subjects treading to and from Africa, between Cape Blanco and the Cape of Good Hope, should hereafter be deemed a body corporate, and that all the countries, islands, rivers and places, together with the forts, should be in the possession of this new company; the members of which should not trade to or from Africa in their joint capacity, have any joint or transferable stock, or borrow money on their common seal. That the persons trading or intending to trade to Africa, should pay to the Chamberlain of London, the Clerk of the Merchants-hall in Bristol, or the Town Clerk of Liverpool, 40s. each for the freedom of the new company. That the management of the affairs of this new company, should be under the direction of a committee of nine persons, to be chosen annually, three out of the members in the city of London, three out of those of Bristol, and three out of those of Liverpool. That this committee should have power to make orders for the government and improvement of the forts and factories; to appoint governors, and other officers civil and military; to receive annually the sum of 40s. and to take a list of the names of all the persons making payment.

It is also enacted, that the committee shall once a year give an account of all their transactions to the Commissioners for trade and plantations, and likewise lay before the Cursitor Baron of the Exchequer, an account, upon oath, of all the money they have received within the preceding year, and the application thereof; and the Lords of the Admiralty are to give instructions to the Captains of such of his Majesty’s ships of war as shall be stationed or ordered to cruize within the above limits, to inspect, and make report to them from time to time of the state of the forts and settlements, copies of which are to be laid before the parliament every sessions.

This is the state at present of this company, who keep their office in Cooper’s court, Cornhill.

St. Agnes le Clare fields, near Hoxton, so called from a spring of water dedicated to that Saint, and now converted into a cold bath.

Ailsbury street, 1. By Jermyn street. 2. St. John’s street, Clerkenwell green.

St. Alban’s, a large and very ancient town in Hertfordshire, 21 miles from London, was so called from St. Alban, who suffered in the persecution under Dioclesian, and being afterwards canonized, and interred on a hill in the neighbourhood of this town, a monastery was erected and dedicated to him by King Offa. King Edward I. erected a magnificent cross in memory of Queen Eleanor; and King Edward VI. incorporated this town by a charter, granting the inhabitants a Mayor, a Steward, a Chamberlain, and ten Burgesses: but the Mayor and Steward are here the only Justices of peace. Here are three churches, besides the ancient cathedral called St. Alban’s, belonging to the monastery, which is now a parish church.

In this ancient edifice is a funeral monument and effigies of King Offa, its founder, who is represented seated on his throne; and underneath is the following inscription:

On the east side stood the shrine of St. Alban, where the following short inscription is still to be seen;

In the south isle near the above shrine is the monument of Humphry, brother to King Henry V. commonly distinguished by the title of the Good Duke of Gloucester. It is adorned with a ducal coronet, and the arms of France and England quartered. In niches on one side are seventeen Kings; but in the niches on the other side there are no statues remaining. The inscription, which alludes to the pretended miraculous cure of a blind man detected by the Duke, is as follows:

About 40 years ago in digging a grave, a pair of stairs were discovered that lead down into a vault where his leaden coffin was found, in which his body was preserved entire, by a kind of pickle in which it lay, only the flesh was wasted from the legs, the pickle at that end being dried up. Many curious medals and coins are to be seen in the church, that have been dug out of the ruins of Old Verulam that stood on the other side of the river Ver, or Moore, which runs south west of the town.

Near St. Alban’s is a fort, at a place called by the common people the Oyster Hills, which is supposed to have been the camp of Ostorius, the Roman Proprætor. This town is the largest in the county, and besides the four churches, has several meeting-houses, two charity schools, and three fairs, and has on Saturday one of the best markets for wheat in England. It gives the title of Duke to the noble family of Beauclerc. The great John Duke of Marlborough erected a seat here, called Holloway-house, and several neat alms-houses have been built here by him and his Duchess.

St. Alban’s, Wood street, on the north side of London, and the east side of Wood street, Cheapside, is dedicated to St. Alban, the British Proto-Martyr, who suffered under the persecution of Dioclesian. The first church in this place was erected in the year 930, and dedicated to the same Saint. After various repairs, the old church was pulled down in 1634, and another erected, which was destroyed by the fire of London thirty-two years after, when the present edifice was built from the same model as the former. It is entirely in the Gothic stile, and consists of a spacious body, and a handsome tower with pinacles.

This church is a rectory in the patronage of Eton College, and the parish of St. Olave, Silver street, is united to it. The Rector, besides other advantages, receives 170l. in lieu of tithes.

Munday in his edition of Stow mentions several uncommon epitaphs in this church, from which we have only selected the following:

Albemarle buildings, Bond street, so called from the Duke of Albemarle, who bought the Earl of Clarendon’s seat, which stood here, and afterwards selling the house and gardens, they were laid out into streets, whence arose this and the two following streets.

In the possession of Richard Mead, Esq; in Albemarle street, is a book bought out of the collection of the famous Cardinal Maximi at Rome; it contain 148 accurate and elegant paintings in water colours, done from ancient pictures found on the walls, ceilings and floors of the baths of Titus, and various other buildings in Rome, some of which have been engraved by Bartoli in his Sepolchri di Nassoni, and in other books: but many of them are to be seen no where else, neither engraved, nor on the walls from whence they were first copied, where they are much defaced by the weather, the smoke of torches, and other accidents.

Of these ancient paintings on wall, Mr. Mead has also a very elegant little specimen representing Augustus restoring a crown to a conquered Prince in the presence of several of his courtiers, among which the faces of Mecænas and Horace may be distinguished.—This has been engraved and explained by Turnbull.

An ancient Greek inscription, being eight lines of Hexameter and Pentameter verses on a marble brought from Asia, which had been a pedestal to a statue of Jupiter Urius. This has been engraved and explained by the learned Mr. Chishul in his Antiquitates Asiaticæ.

Aldermanbury, Cateaton street. This street was thus named from the Guildhall being anciently situated there, till falling to decay, the present hall was built at the end of King street, about the year 1420. The old hall must have been very ancient, as this street had the name of Aldermanbury so early as before the year 1189; and Mr. Maitland supposes that Edward the Confessor, who began his reign in 1042, had a considerable share in its first foundation.

Aldermen. These are twenty-six in number, and each has his separate ward, to the government of which he is more immediately to attend. Those who have served the office of Lord Mayor, are said to be above the chair, and with three of the eldest that are next it, are justices of the peace by charter. All the Aldermen keep their wardmote for chusing ward officers, and settling the affairs of the ward; for redressing grievances, and presenting all defaults found in the ward. In the management of these affairs, every Alderman has his deputy, chosen out of the common council, and in some of the wards, that are very large, the Alderman has two deputies.

Aldersgate, which is situated 1265 feet south west of Cripplegate, is, in Stow’s opinion, one of the original gates of the city; but this is disputed by Maitland, who observes, that the epithet of Alder does not necessarily imply its antiquity, as some derive the name of the gate from Aldrich, a Saxon; others from the seniors or old men by whom it was built; and others from the great number of alder trees, which grew in that neighbourhood; whence he imagines that either of these opinions is more probable, than that this name was conferred upon it on account of its age, particularly as it is no where found to be mentioned before the conquest.

The present gate was built in the year 1616, and being much damaged by the fire of London, was repaired in 1670. In a large square over the arch is King James I. on horseback, in the same posture as when he made his entry through this gate, on his coming to take possession of the crown. The arms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, are quartered above his head. In a nich on the east side is the prophet Jeremiah, with the words of the 25th verse of the 17th chapter of his book; and in a nich on the west side stands the prophet Samuel, with the first verse of the 12th chap. of 1 Sam. On the south side is King James I. in his royal robes, sitting in a chair of state, done in relief. By the sides of the gate there are two posterns for the convenience of foot passengers: and the apartments above are appropriated to the use of the common crier of the city.

A late author observes, that this gate is so heavy and Gothic a structure, that it hardly deserves notice, unless for the sake of the bass relief of King James, which, though in an aukward and inelegant taste, is a very tolerable piece of workmanship, and may challenge some applause.

Aldersgate bars, in Goswell street, a little beyond the north end of Aldersgate street, where the liberties of the city end on that side.

Aldersgate Ward, is of considerable extent both within and without the gate from which it is named, and extends in length from Blowbladder street to Aldersgate bars, including part of Noble street, almost all Foster lane, St. Martin’s le Grand, Bull and Mouth street, Little Britain, and Aldersgate street. The principal buildings are two churches, St. Botolph’s and St. Ann’s, Goldsmiths-hall, Cooks-hall, Coachmakers-hall, Shaftsbury house, a noble building now used for the London lying-in hospital, and London-house. This ward is governed by an Alderman, two Deputies, and eight Common Council Men; eight constables, nine scavengers, nineteen wardmote inquest men and a beadle. The jurymen returned by the wardmote inquest serve in the several courts in Guildhall in the month of August.

Aldgate, was one of the four original gates of the city, and that through which the Roman vicinal way led to the trajectus or ferry at Old Ford. Stow says, that it received its name from its antiquity, which Maitland observes is very improbable, though he allows that the Saxons might give it the epithet of Eald or Ald, from the ruinous condition in which they found it when they first possessed themselves of this city. However, the first time it is found mentioned, is in a charter granted by King Edgar about the year 967.

Aldgate being very ruinous, was pulled down in the year 1606, and the first stone of the present edifice was laid the next year; but this work was not finished till 1609. It is observable that in digging the foundation, several Roman coins were discovered, two of which Mr. Bond the surveyor caused to be cut on stone, and placed on each side of the east front. On the same side was placed in a large square the statue of King James I. in gilt armour, with a golden lion and a chained unicorn couchant at his feet. On the top of the gate was a vane supported by a gilt sphere, on each side of which stood a soldier holding a bullet in his hand, on the top of the upper battlements. On the west side was a figure of Fortune gilt, and standing on a globe, with a prosperous sail spreading over her head; under which was carved the King’s arms; some what lower on the south side stood Peace with a dove perched on her hand, and a gilded wreath in the other; and on the north side was the emblem of Charity. Over the arch of the gate was also engraven,

But all these statues have been removed, and none of these ornaments remain, except the representation of the two Roman coins, and the inscription.

The apartments over this gate are appropriated to the use of one of the Lord Mayor’s carvers.

Aldgate street, extends without Aldgate, to the north east corner of the Minories.

Aldgate Ward, is bounded on the east by Portsoken ward; on the south by Tower street ward; and on the west and north, by the wards of Langbourn, Lime street and Bishopsgate. It extends from Aldgate to Lime street corner in Leadenhall street, and takes in all the streets and lanes on the one hand to Bevis Mark and Shoemaker row, and on the other to Ironmongers hall in Fenchurch street; to the navy office, only a part of which is in this ward, and to the end of River street Tower hill; including Poor Jury lane, Crutched Friars, London street, Woodroff lane, &c. The principal buildings are these four parish churches, St. Catharine Cree church, St. Andrew Undershaft, St. James Duke’s place, and St. Catharine Coleman; three Jews Synagogues, and the Ironmongers, Fletchers and Bricklayers halls. It is under the government of an Alderman and six Common Council men, one of whom is the Alderman’s deputy, with six constables, nine scavengers, eighteen wardmote inquest men, and a beadle. The jurymen returned by the wardmote inquest, serve as jurors in the several courts of Guildhall in the month of January. Maitland.

Alienation office in the Inner Temple, is one of the offices under the Lord Chancellor. Here all writs of covenants and entry upon which fines are levied, and recoveries suffered, are carried to have fines for alienation, set and paid thereupon. This office is executed by three commissioners. Chamberlain’s Present State.

Alleyn’s College at Dulwich. See Dulwich college. Alleyn’s Almshouse in Lamb alley in Bishopsgate street. This charitable foundation, was erected in Petty France by Edward Alleyn, a comedian, about the year 1614, and from thence removed to the above place upon the rebuilding of Petty France, now called New Broad street. Ten poor men and women are, besides their lodging, allowed about 40s. per annum, and every other year the men have coats and breeches, and the women gowns and petticoats. Maitland.

Alleyn’s Almshouse, in Pesthouse lane near Old street, was founded by the above Edward Alleyn, about the year 1616, for ten poor men and women; who receive 6d. per week each, and every other year coats and gowns.

Alleyn’s Almshouse in Soap yard, Deadman’s Place in Southwark, was also founded by the above Edward Alleyn, about the year 1616, for ten poor men and women, with an allowance of only 6d. per week.

Allhallows Barking church, at the east end of Tower street, is so denominated from its being dedicated to all the Saints, vulgarly called Allhallows; and its anciently belonging to the Abbess and Convent of Barking in Essex. It escaped the fire in 1666, and carries about it the marks of that period when architecture was not well understood in England. The church is of considerable extent, and the steeple is a plain tower with its turret. It is a vicarage in the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Vicar, besides other advantages, receives about 126l. a year in tithes.

Allhallows Bread street. The old church was destroyed by the dreadful conflagration which laid most of the other churches in ruins; and the present edifice was erected in 1684. It consists of a plain body, and a square tower divided into four stages with arches near the top. It is a rectory, and one of the thirteen peculiars in this city belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The advowson of this church is in the Archbishop of Canterbury, and to this parish that of St. John the Evangelist is united. The Vicar, besides glebes, casualties, annual donations, and other advantages, receives 1401. a year in lieu of tithes. Maitland.

The following monumental inscripton in this church is worthy of a place in this work. It is to the memory of Humfrey Levins, a citizen and grocer of London, who died in 1682, in the fifty-third year of his age, and his son Humfrey, a youth aged fourteen, who died in 1677, and lies buried in the same grave.

Allhallows the Great, situated on the south side of Thames street, was anciently denominated Allhallows the More, and Allhallows ad Fœnum in the Ropery, from its vicinity to a hay-wharf or market, and situation among ropemakers. The old church with a large cloister on the south side, were consumed in the general conflagration in 1666, and the present edifice arose in 1683. It was built on Sir Christopher Wren’s plan; but in some parts the mason has taken inexcusable liberties. The church is 87 feet in length, 60 in breadth, and the height to the roof is 33. It is built of stone, and there runs thro’ the whole, an apparent strength and solidity. The walls are plain and massy, the ornaments are few and simple, and the apertures, tho’ large, in order to enlighten so considerable a breadth, are not numerous. The tower is plain, square, and divided into five stages, but terminates absolutely square and plain, without spire, turret or pinacles. The cornice is supported by scrolls, and over these rises a balustrade of solid construction, very proper for the rest of the building. Maitland, and English Architecture.

Among the funeral monuments in this church, before its being burnt, was one in memory of Queen Elizabeth, with the following inscriptions:

This church is a rectory, and one of the thirteen peculiars belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury; and to this parish that of Allhallows the Less is annexed, by which the profits of the Rector are greatly increased. He receives, besides glebes, &c. 200l. per annum in lieu of tithes.

Allhallows Honey lane, a small church, which stood where the east end of Honey lane market is at present situated; but being destroyed by the fire of London in 1666, the parish was by act of parliament united to the church of St. Mary le Bow.

Allhallows the Less, stood on the south side of Thames street, almost adjoining to that of Allhallows the Great; but having suffered in the common calamity in 1666, the parish was united to that of Allhallows the Great.

Allhallows Lombard street, situated in Bell alley, near the north corner of Lombard street, in Langbourn ward. A church stood here under the same patronage, before the year 1053; but the present plain, well-proportioned building, was erected in the room of that destroyed by the fire of London. The body is enlightened by a single series of large windows, and the tower is terminated by a plain battlement.

This church is a rectory, and one of the thirteen peculiars in this city belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Rector, besides glebes, donations, and casualties, receives 110l. a year in lieu of tithes. Maitland.

Allhallows London wall, a small mean edifice, a little to the east of Bethlem Hospital, on the outside of London wall. It escaped the fire in 1666, and is a rectory, in the King’s gift.

Allhallows Staining, situated near the north end of Mark lane. It is said to obtain the name of Staining, from the corruption of the word stoney, because built at first of stone, when the other churches dedicated to all the Saints were of wood. It escaped the fire in 1666. The body is well illuminated with Gothic windows, and the square tower is crowned with a small turret.

This church is a curacy, in the gift of the Grocers company. The curate receives about 100l. a year by tithes. Maitland, and English Architecture.

Allhallows Staining School, was founded in the year 1658, by Mr. William Winter, who endowed it with the sum of 600l. the profits arising from which, amounting to 26l. per annum, are employed in instructing six boys in reading, writing, and accounts, and putting them out apprentice, with each of whom a sum is given not exceeding 10l.

Lord High Almoner, a clergyman of the highest rank, and frequently the Archbishop of York, who has the office of disposing of the King’s alms, and for that use receives all deodands, the goods of persons found guilty of self-murder, and other sums allowed by his Majesty to be disposed of for that purpose. Besides the sums distributed to the poor of several parishes, there are many poor pensioners to the King below stairs, who have a competency duly paid them, either because they are so old as to be unfit for service, or because they are the widows of such of his Majesty’s household servants as died poor, and were unable to provide for their wives and children in their life-times.

Under the Lord High Almoner, are a Sub-almoner, a Yeoman, and a Groom of the Almonry.

Almonry, vulgarly called the Ambry, receives its name from the alms of the Abbey being distributed there, and was originally a chapel dedicated to St. Catharine, and not, as Mr. Stow asserts, to St. Anne. Near this chapel Abbot Islip erected the first printing-house that ever was in England in the year 1474; when Mr. William Caxton, a citizen and mercer of London, bringing that invaluable art from Holland, became the first printer in Britain. Maitland.

Almonry School, situated in the Almonry at Westminster, was founded in the year 1677, by Henry Hill, Esq; who also endowed it with 7l. a year for the education of poor children.

Almshouses. See a particular account of each under the names of their respective founders. The number of persons contained in the several Alms-houses and hospitals within the bills of mortality, with the children put forth apprentice by the money collected at the feast, &c. of the Sons of the Clergy, and the several poor families that participate of the king’s annual charity, amount in the whole to about 8000 persons, and the sum employed for their relief to 80,000l. Maitland.

Almshouse yard. 1. Little Almonry, Westminster. 2. Dormer’s Hill. 3. Little Chapel street. 4. Coleman street. 5. Snow Hill, in which Hammond’s almshouse is situated.

St. Alphage, in Aldermanbury near London wall, owes its name to its dedication to St. Alphage, or Elphege, a noble Saxon Saint, and Archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered at Greenwich by the pagan Danes, in the year 1013. This church escaped the flames in 1666, and is still standing; tho’ it is as mean a structure as can well be conceived.

The living is a rectory in the patronage of the Bishop of London, and the Rector receives about 75l. a year in tithes.

Amen corner, at the end of Pater-noster-row, near St. Paul’s. See Pater-noster-row.

Amersham, or Agmondesham, a small but very ancient borough, in Buckinghamshire, situated in a vale between woody hills, 29 miles from London. This town does not come within the compass which we have prescribed round London, but our map of the environs not being a circle, the angles of it take in some few places at a greater distance than 20 miles; and these being inserted in our map, we thought we could not dispense with taking notice of them, as well as of those within the prescribed limits. The town consists of a long street, divided about the middle by a shorter cross street; in the intersection of which stands the church, said to be the best rectory in the county; it being well endowed by Geoffery de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, in the reign of King Stephen. There is here a handsome market-house, built with brick on arched pillars, about 80 years ago, by Sir William Drake, Knt. It has a free school founded in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and here is also a fine seat called Shardelowes, the manor of which formerly belonged to the noble family of the Russels; but about the time of the restoration it was sold, with the borough, to Sir William Drake, Bart. in whose family it still remains.

Amicable Society, in Serjeants-inn Fleet street, was incorporated by a charter granted by Queen Anne, in the year 1706, for a perpetual Assurance-office for the purpose of making a provision for their wives, children, and other relations, after an easy, certain and advantageous manner, with power to purchase lands, &c. and to have a seal, which is a dove standing upon a serpent, and above in a scroll the motto Prudens Simplicitas. The number of persons to be incorporated was not to exceed 2000. After paying the charges of the policy, and 10s. entrance-money, each person was to pay 6l. 4s. per annum, which annual payments have since, by the increase of the Society’s stock, been reduced to 5l. a year, payable quarterly, and from these payments the dividends to claimants are to arise.

That this Society has been greatly beneficial to the public, evidently appears from a state of their yearly dividends from Lady-day 1710, to Lady 1757, during which each claim amounted upon an average to 106l. 1s. 4d. but taking the computation only for these twenty-three years last past, viz. from the year 1734, (when by an order of the general court, a part of their yearly income was appropriated for augmenting their claims whenever they should happen to be under 100l.) the quantum of such claims from the year 1734 to 1757, have amounted upon an average to 120l. 9s. 1d. and so considerable has been the increase of the dividends for these nine years last past, that each claim, during that period, has been advanced upon an average to 142l. 6s. 5d.

However, at a general court held May 12, 1757, an order was made for farther augmenting the dividends on claims, so as that for the future they will not be less than 125l. each claim, but yet may happen to be considerably more, which has been the case of several former years.

To clergymen, physicians, surgeons, lawyers, tradesmen, and particularly persons possessed of places or employments for life: to such parents, husbands, or wives, and other relations, whose income is subject to be determined or diminished at their respective deaths, who by insuring their lives by means of this Society, may now in all events leave to their families a claim, or right, to receive a sum not less than 125l. for every five pounds annually paid in, and very probably a larger sum, as appears by the above account.

To married persons, more especially where a jointure, pension, or annuity depends on both or either of their lives, by insuring the life of the persons intitled to such annuity, pension or jointure.

To dependents upon any other person intitled to a salary, benefaction, or other means of subsistence, during the life of such person, whose life being insured in this society, either by themselves, or by the person upon whom they are dependent, will intitle them to receive upon the death of such person, a sum not less than 125l. for each number so insured.

To persons wanting to borrow money, who by insuring their lives, are enabled to give a collateral security for the money borrowed.

To creditors intitled to demands larger than their debtors are able to discharge, such debtors may, by a like insurance, secure to their creditors their principal sums at their deaths.

The abovementioned advantages are chiefly with respect to perpetual insurances for life; but temporary insurers may find no less advantage from this Society, as may plainly appear from the following instance, viz. A. B. has agreed for the purchase of an office or employment, but wants 300l. or 400l. to make up the purchase-money: he is willing to assign a share of the profits or income of his office, as a security or pledge for the repayment of the principal with interest, but cannot obtain a loan of that sum without insuring his life till the whole be cleared, which he is enabled to do by the help of this Society. For example; He purchases three numbers, on each of which he insures his life, and thereby his assigns become intitled to three several claims at his death; which claims, by the abovementioned provision, will not be less than 125l. each, and may probably amount to more: he assigns and deposits his policy with the lender: he pays to the Society for the yearly contributions on the three numbers no more than 5l. each, which is considerably less than 5l. per cent. under which rate no other office will insure, and that for one year only; at the end of which such offices are at liberty to refuse any further insurance: whereas in this Society the insurance continues during the life of the insured, unless excluded by the non-payment of the quarterly contributions. And every insurer, or their representatives, at the end of their insurance may in a great measure (if not entirely) reimburse themselves their purchase-money (originally paid by them for their numbers) by disposing of them at a market price, which they may do without any farther trouble than applying to the Society’s office.

All persons at the time of their admission are to be between the ages of twelve and forty-five, and must then appear to be in a good state of health.

Persons living in the country may be admitted by certificates and affidavit, forms of which may be had at the office.

Every claimant is impowered to put in a new life in the room of the deceased within twelve calendar months next after the end of the current year, for which his or her claim shall be allowed as often as the same shall happen, upon payment of 10s. entrance.

Any person may have two or three several insurances, or numbers, on one and the same life, whereby such persons will be intitled to a claim on each number so insured.

The affairs of the corporation are managed by a court of twelve directors annually chosen within forty days after every 25th of March; and the majority of the members assembled at a general court, which is never to consist of less than twenty, are impowered to make laws and ordinances for the good government of the corporation. The charter directs one of the members of the Society to be elected their Register, who being also their receiver and accomptant, is therefore required by the by-laws to give good security in the sum of 2000l. at least.

Five members of the Society are annually elected auditors, who are by their office to inspect every transaction of the Society, to examine all vouchers for receipts and payments, and upon oath to lay before the quarterly and annual general courts, the quarterly and annual accounts of the Society: and on the day before the holding each court of directors, the auditors are to state and enter in the directors minute book a balance of the cash of the Society.

Attendance is daily given at the Society’s office from nine in the morning, till two in the afternoon, holidays excepted. From the proposals printed by the Society.

Amyas’s almshouse was erected in George yard, Old street, in the year 1655, by Mrs. Susanna Amyas, for eight poor single men or women, who have an allowance of 4l. per annum each; besides 6l. to furnish them all with coals, 1l. for water, and 1l. for one of the eight to read prayers daily.

Anabaptists, or, as they chuse to call themselves, Baptists. See an account of their several places of worship, under the article Baptist.

St. Andrew’s Holborn, a plain but not inelegant church, situated on the south side of Holborn, and at the corner of Shoe lane. It is dedicated to St. Andrew the Apostle, who was distinguished by being the first person Christ called for a disciple; and his suffering martyrdom in Achaia. There was a church in this place called by the name of the same Apostle, so early as the year 1297. The old church escaped the flames in the dreadful fire of London, that proved fatal to so many others; but ten years after being found too ruinous for repair, was taken down in 1687, and the present structure erected in its place, except the tower, which was not finished till the year 1704.

This church has a considerable space before it, which is entered by a handsome pair of iron gates. It is a neat edifice, with two series of windows, and a handsome balustrade round the top. The tower, which rises square, consists only of two stages, and round the top is a balustrade with a pinacle at each corner; on the crown of each is placed a pine apple, from which rises the fanes. On the inside, the church is extremely neat and well finished.

The living is a rectory, said to be worth 600l. a year, in the patronage of the Duke of Montague. Stow, Maitland, English architecture.

St. Andrew Hubbard, a church which stood between St. Botolph’s lane, and Love lane, in Little Eastcheap, where the King’s weigh-house now stands; but being destroyed by the fire of London, and not rebuilt, the parish was united to that of St. Mary at Hill.

St. Andrew Undershaft, at the corner of St. Mary Ax in Leadenhall street, and in Aldgate ward. There stood in this place a church dedicated to the same Saint so early as in 1362, which was pulled down in the year 1532, and the present structure erected in its room. It obtained the name of Undershaft from a may-pole, which was anciently called a shaft, being annually raised in the street near it on May-day, and was taller than the steeple.

This church is a plain gothic structure, with a well enlightened body, and a square tower terminated by battlements, with pinacles at the corners, within which rises a turret that contains the bell. It is a rectory, in the patronage of the Bishop of London. The Incumbent receives 120l. a year by tithes.

St. Andrew Wardrobe, on the east side of Puddledock hill, in Castle Baynard ward, took its name from a great royal wardrobe erected there in the reign of King Edward III. There was a church on the same spot dedicated to St. Andrew in the year 1322: but the present structure was not built till the year 1670, when it was erected in the place of one burnt by the fire of London. The body is enlightened by two rows of windows, and the tower has neither turret, pinacles nor spire.

This church is a rectory, in the gift of the Crown, and to this parish that of St. Ann’s Black Friars is annexed. The Rector receives by act of parliament 140l. a year in lieu of tithes. Newc. Repert. Eccles.

Angel alley. 1. Fore street, Lambeth.* 2. King’s street, St. James’s square.* 3. Shoe lane.* 4. Gray’s Inn lane.* 5. Long acre.* 6. Aldersgate street.* 7. Redcross street.* 8. Whitecross street, Cripplegate.* 9. Charterhouse lane.* 10. Coleman street.* 11. Fenchurch street.* 12. Leadenhall street.* 13. Houndsditch.* 14. Little Moorfields.* 15. Bishopsgate street.* 16. Golden lane, Old street.* 17. Stony lane, Petticoat lane. 18. Whitechapel.* 19. Brick lane, Spitalfields.* 20. Ratcliff highway.* 21. Nightingale lane, East Smithfield.* 22. Pepper Alley, Southwark.* 23. Coal Harbour, Thames street.*

Angel court. 1. King’s street, St. James’s square.* 2. Drury lane.* 3. Charing Cross.* 4. Charterhouse lane alley.* 5. Aldersgate street.* 6. Friday street.* 7. Grub street.* 8. Camomile street.* 9. Bishopsgate street without.* 10. Lamb alley, Bishopsgate street.* 11. Angel alley, Aldersgate street.* 12. Foul lane, in the Borough.* 13. Great Windmill street.* 14. King’s Bench alley, Southwark.* 15. Redcross street in the Park, Southwark.* 16. Leadenhall street.* 17. Little Elbow lane.* 18. New Gravel lane.* 19. Redcross street, Cripplegate.* 20. Little Old Bailey.* 21. Snowhill.* 22. Long acre.* 23. Long ditch, Westminster.* 24. Near St. James’s square.* 25. St. Martin’s lane, Charing cross.* 26. Near Surrey street in the Strand.* 27. Throgmorton street.* 28. White’s alley, Rosemary lane.* 29. Stony lane, Petticoat lane.* 30. Shoe lane.*

Angel street. 1. St. Martin’s le grand.* 2. Little Moorfields.* 3. St. George’s fields, Southwark.*

St. Ann’s Aldersgate, on the north side of St. Ann’s lane, in the ward of Aldersgate within, is dedicated to St. Ann the mother of the Virgin Mary. The old church in this place perished in the fire 1666, and the present was raised in its place about three years after. It is a very plain edifice: the body is enlightened by a few large windows, cased with rustic. The tower, which is very plain, is also strengthened at the corners with rustic, and from its top rises a turret and spire.

The church is a rectory in the patronage of the Bishop of London, and the parish of St. John Zachary is annexed to it. The Rector receives 140l. per annum, in lieu of tithes.

St. Ann’s Black Friars, stood on the east side of Churchyard alley, in the precinct of Black Friars, and the ward of Faringdon without; but having suffered in the fatal calamity of 1666, and not being rebuilt, the parish was annexed to that St. Andrew Wardrobe.

St. Ann’s Limehouse, arose from the great increase of houses and inhabitants, by which the village of Limehouse, a hamlet of Stepney, became joined to the metropolis, and it was resolved that here should be one of the fifty new churches appointed by act of parliament to be built within the bills of mortality. The foundation was laid in the year 1712, and the present structure finished in 1729; but the inhabitants of this hamlet not applying to parliament to have it erected into a parish till the year 1729, it was not consecrated till 1730. This hamlet and part of that of Ratcliff, having been constituted a distinct parish from that of Stepney, the sum of 3500l. was given by parliament to be laid out in fee simple towards the support of the Rector; besides which the church wardens were to pay him annually the sum of 60l. to be raised by burial fees.

This church is of a very singular construction, the body is not one plain building, but is continued under separate portions. The door under the tower has a portico, covered with a dome supported by pilasters, and to this door there is an ascent by a flight of plain steps. Its square tower has a large Corinthian window adorned with columns and pilasters. The corners of the tower are also strengthened by pilasters, which on their tops support vases. The upper stage of the tower is plain, and extremely heavy, and from this part rises a turret at each corner, and a more lofty one in the middle.

The advowson of this rectory, which is not to be held in commendam, is in the Principal and Scholars of King’s hall, and Brazen-nose College, Oxford. Maitland.

St. Ann’s Soho, owes its foundation to the same cause as the former, the increase of public buildings; the inhabitants of the parish of St. Martin’s in the Fields became much too numerous to be contained in the church, and therefore applying to parliament, this was erected in the year 1686, in a spot of ground then called Kemp’s Field, and the parish to which it belongs was separated from St. Martin’s in 1678.

The walls of this church are of brick with rustic quoins. The tower, which is square, is strengthened with a kind of buttresses, and at the springing of the dome, which supports the lanthorn, there are urns on the corners with flames. The lanthorn, which is formed of arches, is surrounded with a balustrade at the bottom, and a turret over it is well shaped, and crowned with a globe and fane.

The advowson of this church is settled upon the Bishop of London, and the Rector; instead of tithes, receives from the parishioners 100l. a year, which, together with the glebe, surplice fees, and Easter book, amount to about 300l. per annum. Maitland.

St. Anthony, vulgarly called St. Antholin’s, Budge row, a plain but well-proportioned church, with a neat spire. The former church in this place was destroyed by fire in 1666, and the present edifice finished in 1682. It is built of stone, and is of the Tuscan order, firm and massy. The length of the church is 66 feet, and the breadth 54. The roof is a cupola of an elliptic form, enlightened by four port hole windows, and supported by composite columns. The steeple consists of a tower, and a neat spire.

The living is a rectory, with the parish of St. John Baptist annexed to it, and the advowson is in the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s. The Rector receives 120l. a year in lieu of tithes.

St. Anthony’s Hospital and School, an ancient foundation in Threadneedle street. See the French episcopal church in Threadneedle street.

Antiquarian Society. A society of Antiquaries was formed in this city about the year 1580, by some of the most learned men in the kingdom: but having been frequently interrupted and discontinued, very little can be said concerning the same till the year 1717, when it was again revived by a number of gentlemen studious of antiquity in general, but more particularly desirous to obtain all possible knowledge of the antiquities of their own country. With this view they agreed to meet one evening in every week under certain regulations; they encouraged correspondencies with all parts of the kingdom; they subscribed an annual sum to defray the expence of engraving on copper-plates, what should be thought deserving to be so preserved, and limited their number to 100. And in this manner they continued their weekly meeting with great reputation, till his Majesty King George II. was graciously pleased to grant them a royal charter of incorporation, dated Nov. 2, 1751; and to declare himself their founder and patron.

Under this charter they became a body corporate, by the name of the Society of Antiquaries of London, with a power to have and use a common seal, to sue and be sued, and to take, hold, and enjoy by purchase, gift, or otherwise, any lands, tenements or hereditaments, not exceeding in the whole 1000l. per annum. And it is therein directed, that the Council of the said Society shall at all times consist of 21 persons, the President for the time being always to be one; and the said charter appoints Martin Folkes, Esq; to be the first President, and also 20 other persons therein named to be the first Council, empowering them within two months from the date thereof, to nominate, chuse and admit, as Fellows of the said Society, such persons as shall excel in the knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other nations, and be eminent for piety, virtue, integrity and loyalty. This first President and Council are to continue till the 23d day of April next ensuing, on which day, in every year thereafter, the Council and Fellows are to assemble to nominate and elect a President, and Council for the ensuing year; and it is particularly directed that eleven of the former Council shall be continued, and ten other persons chosen out of the members of the Society: ten and no more of the Council being to be changed annually. The President is empowered to nominate four persons of the Council to be his Deputies, and supply his place in case of sickness or absence, and the President, Council, Fellows, or any twenty-one or more, are empowered to make statutes, rules, orders and by-laws, for the government and direction of the said Society, their estates, goods, &c. and for the admission and amoval of all and every the members and officers thereof. And the President, Council and Fellows, may appoint treasurers, secretaries and clerks, may have and employ one serjeant at mace, and such other servants as they think necessary. And lastly, if any abuses or differences shall arise, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lord Chancellor or Keeper of the Great Seal, the Lord Privy Seal, and the two Secretaries of State for the time being, are appointed Visitors, with full power for any three of them to compose and redress such differences and abuses: provision is also made to fill up any vacancies that may happen by the death of the President or any of the Council.

On the receipt of this charter, the first President and Council nominated and admitted, by a writing dated the 14th of November 1751, all the former members, together with some others, in the whole 121, to be Fellows of the said Society of Antiquaries of London, and soon after drew up a body of statutes for the good government thereof, which, was unanimously agreed to and confirmed in the month of July 1752.

It was herein enacted, that the number of members should not exceed 150, but that number being very soon filled up, and several men of quality and fortune, as well as persons of great learning and eminence, being continually applying to become members, which they could not be till vacancies should happen by death, the Society thought proper in the year 1755, to enlarge their number to 180, (to which they are limited at present) exclusive of Peers, Privy Councillors and Judges, that should be chosen after that time. A little before this the Society gave up the management of their estate and revenues, the payment of monies, and the publication of their papers and drawings, (which before were in the body in general, and thereby attended with many inconveniences,) entirely to the care of their Council, which are now a standing committee for that purpose; and thereby the government of this Society is become nearly the same as that of the Royal Society, which was doubtless a proper pattern to copy after.

On the 23d of April, being St. George’s day, the Society annually elect their Council and officers, viz. a President, a Treasurer, two Secretaries, and a Director, who has the care of all their publications. Then the President appoints four of the Council to be his Deputies or Vice-presidents: and after the election is over, the Society dine together at their own expence. Martin Folkes, Esq; was annually elected President till his death in 1754, since which time the Rt. Hon. Lord Willoughby of Parham has been every year chosen.

Every person desirous to be elected a Fellow of this Society, except Peers, Privy Counsellors, or Judges of Great Britain or Ireland, must be recommended by three or more of the members, in a paper signed by themselves, specifying the name, addition, profession, and chief qualification of the candidate, and also the place of his abode. When this has been read at one of the Society’s meetings, and then hung up in their public room during the time of four other meetings, the election is determined by ballot. Peers, Privy Counsellors, and judges of Great Britain or Ireland, if proposed by any single member, must be balloted for immediately. Every new member must pay an admission fee of five guineas, and sign the obligation, whereby he promises, that he will to the utmost of his power promote the honour and interest of the Society, and observe the statutes and orders thereof. Which being done he is led up to the chair, when the President or Vice-President rising, takes him by the hand and says these words, viz. I do, by the authority and in the name of the Society of Antiquaries of London, admit you a Fellow thereof.

Every member must further pay one guinea annually for the use of the Society, or ten guineas at once in lieu of all contributions.

The meetings of this Society are on Thursday evenings weekly, from about six till nine o’clock, at their house in Chancery lane: their business is to receive, read and consider all informations from their own members, or others, concerning the Antiquities of all nations, (for which purpose they admit eminent foreigners to be correspondent members) but they more particularly attend to the study of the ancient history, customs, manners, grants, charters, coins, medals, camps, churches, cities, and all monuments whatever, ecclesiastical, military, or civil, which are found in or relate to Great Britain and Ireland. And the communications they have received concerning these matters must be very valuable, as may be judged by the many curious remains of antiquity they have caused to be engraven on copper-plates, and permitted lately to be sold; tho’ as yet they have not thought fit to publish any of their dissertations. They have a small but choice library, which is increasing daily, also a fine collection of prints and drawings.

Num.	Volume the First.	Price. l. s. d.
	The general title and catalogue in Latin.	0 1 0

1.	A brass lamp, found at St. Leonard’s hill near Windsor, presented by Sir Hans Sloane, Bart.	0 1 0

2.	Ulphus’s horn, a piece of great antiquity, preserved in the cathedral at York.	0 1 0

3.	The font in St. James’s church at Westminster.	0 1 0

4.	The portrait of King Richard II. from an ancient picture in the choir of Westminster abbey.	0 2 0

5.	Three ancient seals, with their reverses; the first of Cottingham abbey in Yorkshire, the second of Clare-hall in Cambridge, and the third the chapter seal of the church of St. Etheldred at Ely.	0 1 0

6.	The ruins of Walsingham priory in Norfolk.	0 0 9

7.	Waltham cross in Middlesex.	0 1 0

8.	A plan of the remaining walls and city of Verulam.	0 1 0

9–12.	Four views of the ruins of Fountain abbey in Yorkshire.	0 3 0

13, 14.	Three views of the gate of St. Bennet’s abbey in Norfolk.	0 2 6

15.	The tomb of Robart Colles and Cecili his wife at Foulsham in Norfolk.	0 0 6

16.	The shrine of King Edward the Confessor in Westminster abbey.	0 2 0

17.	The north front of the gate at Whitehall.	0 1 0

18.	The north front of King’s street gate in Westminster.	0 1 0

19.	Plans of the two preceding gates.	0 0 6

20.	Coins of King Henry VIII, Edward VI, Q. Elizabeth, and K. James I. Also a portrait of Q. Eliz. from a painting in enamel.	0 1 0

21–26.	The tournament of K. Henry VIII, Feb. 12, 1510; from an ancient roll in the Heralds office.	0 6 0

27.	The ruins of Furness abbey in Lancashire.	0 1 6

28–33.	The Barons letter in the reign of King Edward I, Feb. 12, 1300, to Pope Boniface VIII; with the seals appendent thereto.	0 6 0

34.	An antique brass head, dug up at Bath in 1727.	0 1 0

35, 36.	Three views of Colchester castle in Essex, with a ground plot thereof.	0 2 0

37, 38.	Tables of English gold and silver coins, shewing the several species coined in each reign.	0 3 0

39.	Tutbury castle in Staffordshire.	0 1 0

40.	Melbourn castle in Derbyshire.	0 1 0

41.	Lancaster castle.	0 1 0

42.	Pontefract castle in Yorkshire.	0 1 0

43.	A gold seal of Pope Alexander IV; with gold and silver coins, struck in France and Flanders, relating to the history of England.	0 1 0

44.	Knaresborough castle in Yorkshire.	0 1 0

45.	A portrait of Dr. Tanner, Bishop of St. Asaph.	0 1 0

46.	Tickhill castle in Yorkshire.	0 1 0

47.	A plan of the Roman roads in Yorkshire.	0 1 0

48.	A Roman tessellated pavement, found near Cotterstock in Northamptonshire in 1736.	0 1 6

49.	A ancient chapel, adjoining to the Bishop’s palace at Hereford.	0 1 0

50–52.	Three Roman tessellated pavements, found at Wellow near Bath in 1737.	0 5 0

53, 54.	Ancient seals and their reverses, from the Dutchy office of Lancaster.	0 2 6

55.	Gold and silver medals of Mary Queen of Scots, and Lord Darnley; with others of Queen Anne, Prince Henry, and K. Charles I.	0 1 3

56.	Gold and silver coins of several English Kings, Prince Edward, and Q. Elizabeth.	0 1 3

57.	A Roman sudatory, lately found at Lincoln.	0 1 0

58–60.	Ancient seals, from the Dutchy office at Lancaster.	0 4 6

61.	Winchester cross.	0 1 0

62.	The decree of the university of Oxford in 1534, against the jurisdiction of the Pope in England.	0 2 6

63.	A plan of the Tower liberties, from a survey in 1597.	0 2 0

64.	Chichester cross.	0 1 0

65.	Three views of the Roman Retiarii.	0 1 0

66–68.	The portrait of Sir Robert Cotton, Bart. with two plates of fragments of an ancient copy of the book of Genesis, illuminated with elegant figures; and an historical dissertation on the said book.	0 5 0

69.	The standard of ancient weights and measures, from a table in the Exchequer.	0 2 6

70.	A view of the court of wards and liveries, as fitting; with a brief historical account of that court.	0 5 0
		——
	Total	4 7 9

Num.	Volume the Second.	Price. l. s. d.
1, 2.	Plans for rebuilding the city of London after the great fire.	0 2 0

3.	A portrait of Mr. Holmes, keeper of the records in the Tower.	0 1 0

4.	Ancient deeds and seals.	0 1 0

5.	A view of the Savoy from the river Thames.	0 1 0

6.	The warrant for beheading K. Charles.	0 1 6

7.	An ancient wooden church at Greensted in Essex, the shrine of St. Edmund the King and Martyr, and the seal of the abbot of St. Edmund’s Bury in Suffolk.	0 1 0

8.	Gloucester cross.	0 1 0

9.	Three tessellated Roman pavements, found at Winterton in Lincolnshire, in 1747; with one at Roxby, a town in that neighbourhood.	0 2 0

10.	Doncaster cross.	0 1 0

11.	Sandal castle in Yorkshire.	0 1 0

12.	The Savoy hospital in the Strand, with the chapel.	0 1 0

13.	Clithero castle in Lancashire.	0 1 0

14.	A plan of the ground and buildings of the Savoy.	0 1 0

15, 16.	A view of the cathedral church and priory of Benedictines at Canterbury, with the effigies of Eadwin a monk of that convent, between the years 1130 and 1174, both drawn by himself; with a printed account of the said drawings.	0 3 0

17.	An ancient lamp in two views, a vase, and two bells, all of brass.	0 1 0
		———
	Total	0 19 6

N. B. All these numbers of the SECOND VOLUME may be had together for seventeen shillings.

Complete sets, or any single numbers, of these prints may be had at Mr. Tovey’s in Westminster-hall, and Mr. Boydell’s the corner of Queen street, Cheapside; and at the Society’s house in Chancery lane.

Apothecaries Company. This company was incorporated with that of the Grocers by King James I. in the year 1606; but they were soon separated, and in 1617 incorporated by the name of the Master, Wardens and Society of the art and mystery of Apothecaries of the city of London, at which time there were only 104 Apothecaries shops within the city and suburbs.

This company is governed by a Master, two Wardens, and twenty-one Assistants, to whom belong a livery of 144 members, whose fine is 16l. The Apothecaries have the privilege of being exempt from parish and ward offices.

Apothecaries Hall. This edifice is situated in Blackfriars, and has a pair of gates leading into an open court handsomely paved with broad stones, at the upper end of which is the hall built with brick and stone, and adorned with columns of the Tuscan order. The ceiling of the court room and hall is ornamented with fret work, and the latter wainscotted fourteen feet high. In the hall room is the portraiture of King James I. and also the bust of Dr. Gideon Delaun, that King’s apothecary, who was a considerable benefactor to the company. In this building are two large laboratories, one chemical, and the other for galenical preparations, where vast quantities of the best medicines are prepared, for the use of apothecaries and others, and particularly of the Surgeons of the royal navy, who here make up their chests.

The Apothecaries company have a spacious and beautiful physic garden at Chelsea, which contains almost four acres, and is enriched with a vast variety of plants both domestic and exotic. This was given by Sir Hans Sloane, Bart. on condition of their paying a quit rent of 5l. per annum, and annually delivering to the President and Fellows of the Royal Society, at one of their public meetings, fifty specimens of different sorts of plants, well cured, and of the growth of this garden, till the number of specimens amounts to 2000.

Applebee’s School is kept in St. Saviour’s churchyard in Southwark, and was founded in 1681 by Mrs. Dorothy Applebee, who endowed it with 20l. per annum, for instructing thirty poor boys in reading, writing and arithmetic.

Archdeacon. As the bishopric of London includes the ancient kingdom of the East Saxons, which contained the counties of Middlesex, Essex, and part of Hertfordshire, it has five archdeaconries, viz. those of London, Essex, Middlesex, Colchester, and St. Alban’s. It is the office of these Archdeacons to visit annually the several cures in their respective archdeaconries, in order to enquire into the deportment of the several incumbents, as well as parish officers; to advise them gravely to reform what is amiss, and in case of contumacy to inflict pains and penalties, for which they receive procuration from every parish priest within their jurisdiction.

Arches, an ecclesiastical court in Doctors Commons, formerly kept in Bow church Cheapside, where the church and tower being arched, the court was from thence called The Arches, and still retains the name. As this is the highest court belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury, hither all appeals in ecclesiastical matters within that province are directed. The judge of this court is stiled the Dean of the Arches, from his having a jurisdiction over a Deanry in London, consisting of 13 parishes or peculiars exempt from the Bishop of London’s jurisdiction. The other officers are a register, or examiner, an actuary, a beadle or crier, and an apparitor; besides advocates, procurators, or proctors. See Doctors Commons.

Argyle buildings, a new and very handsome street, regularly built, between Oxford road and Marlborough street; near the center is the Duke of Argyle’s house, a very plain edifice, with a small area, and a wall before it.

Arlington street, runs parallel to the upper end of St. James’s street, it having Park Place on the south, and Portugal street on the north. It is magnificently built.

Armourers, a company incorporated by King Henry VI. about the year 1423, by the title of The Master and Wardens, Brothers and Sisters of the fraternity of or guild of St. George, of the men of the mysteries of the Armourers of the city of London. The same Prince also honour’d the company by becoming one of their members. To this company, which formerly made coats of mail, is united that of the brasiers, who are jointly governed by a Master, two Wardens, and 21 Assistants. Their livery consists of eighty members, whose fine is 25l.

The armourers and brasiers hall is an old plain brick building near the north east corner of Coleman street.

Artichoke lane. 1. Virginia street.* 2. Near the Hermitage, Wapping.* 3. Newington Causeway, Southwark.*

Artillery Ground. The Old Artillery Ground was a little north east of what is now Devonshire square in Bishopsgate street. This was originally a spacious field called Tassel Close, from its being planted with tassels for the use of the clothworkers. It was afterwards let to the cross-bow makers, who used to shoot there; but being at length inclosed with a brick wall, served as an artillery ground, to which the gunners of the Tower repaired every Thursday, when they levelled brass pieces of large artillery against a butt of earth raised for that purpose. The last Prior of St. Mary Spital granted to the gunners of the Tower this artillery ground for thrice ninety nine years, for the use and practice of great and small artillery; and King Henry VIII. gave the company a charter. Hence this artillery ground became subject to the Tower; the streets, &c. compose one of the Tower hamlets, and the inhabitants are still summoned on juries belonging to the courts held on Tower hill.

In the year 1585, the city being put to great trouble and expence by the continual musters and training of soldiers, some brave and active citizens, who had obtained experience both at home and abroad, voluntarily exercised themselves, and trained up others in the use of arms, so that within two years there were almost three hundred merchants, and other persons of distinction, qualified to teach the common soldiers the management of their guns, pikes, and halberts, as well as to march and countermarch. These met every Thursday, each person by turns bearing office from the corporal to the captain, and some of these gentlemen had the honour of having a body of forces under their command at the great camp of Tilbury, in the year 1588, when the Spaniards sent against us their pretended invincible Armada, and these commanders were generally called Captains of the Artillery Garden.

This noble exercise became afterwards discontinued for a long time, but was renewed in the year 1610, when several gentlemen having obtained the permission of King James I. undertook at their private expence a weekly exercise in the same artillery ground, and in the year 1662, erected an armoury, in which they placed 500 sets of arms, of extraordinary beauty and workmanship. The Artillery company now greatly increased, and the people resorted to the artillery ground to learn to defend themselves and their country; and even many gentlemen from every county went thither to learn martial exercises, in order to teach them to the militia, in the distant parts of the kingdom.

At length this company being so much increased that this artillery ground was scarcely able to contain them, for they amounted to about 6000: they removed to the New Artillery Ground near the upper end of Moorfields, where they still continue to assemble.

King Charles II. when Prince of Wales enlisted himself into this company, as did his brother James Duke of York, at the same time; who after the restoration took upon himself the command, and named it his own company.

The Artillery company consists of about 300 men. It is governed by a President, Vice-president, Treasurer and Court of Assistants. The Lord Mayor, Aldermen and Sheriffs for the time being, &c. with the Field Officers of the militia or trained bands, are of the honorary court, these with 24 gentlemen annually elected, compose the court of Assistants. His Majesty is Captain-General, and all the other officers are elected annually, and serve by rotation.

The New Artillery Ground is a spacious square walled round. In the center of the north side is the Armoury, a neat building of brick and stone strengthened with rustic quoins at the corners; before it is a flight of steps, and there are a few others at the door, which is in the center, and is large, lofty, and adorned with a porch formed by two Tuscan columns and two pilasters supporting a balcony. The front is ornamented with a pediment supported at the corners by quoins. On the top are placed several large balls, and on the apex of the pediment is a lofty flag staff. On each side the main building, stands at some distance backwards a small edifice, where the provisions are dress’d at the company’s feasts. The hall of the armoury is hung round with breast-plates, helmets and drums; and fronting the entrance is a handsome pair of iron gates which lead to a spacious staircase, painted with military ornaments, and adorned with the statue of a man dressed in a compleat suit of armour. This staircase leads into a very spacious room, which has the King’s arms over one fire place, and those of the company over the other. It has two chandeliers, and is adorned with very fine guns, swords and bayonets, presented by the officers of the company, and handsomely disposed on the walls. There are here also tables hung up, containing the names of the subscribers to the iron gates and other ornaments, among whom is King George I. who gave 500l. Besides the rooms already mentioned, there are two others above, and two below.

Artillery court, Prince’s row, Finsbury, so called from the artillery ground near it.

Artillery lane. 1. Bishopsgate street without, thus named from its being built on the Old Artillery ground. 2. Fair street, Horsley down.

Artillery street, near Bishopsgate without, Spitalfields. It had also its name from its being built on the old artillery ground there.

Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. The public spirit of this age is perhaps in no instance more remarkably shewn than in the flourishing condition of this valuable Society, whose sole object is the improvement of the polite and commercial arts in all their various branches, by exciting industry and emulation amongst all who can be moved either by honorary or pecuniary rewards. It was set on foot by Lord Folkstone, Lord Romney, Dr. Hales, and seven or eight private gentlemen, who were brought together by the unwearied pains of Mr. William Shipley, a person little known, who had long laboured to reduce into practice a scheme he had projected for this purpose. Their first meeting was at Rathmill’s coffee-house, March 22d 1754, when those noble Lords approved and patronized the undertaking. At their next meeting they determined to make a beginning, by proposing rewards for the discovery of cobalt, for the encouragement of boys and girls in the art of drawing, (thereby to improve manufactures in taste and elegance,) and for the planting of madder in this kingdom. And now money being wanted, a voluntary subscription was begun, to which the two noblemen before named, did not only generously contribute much more than they would let appear, but engaged moreover to make good the deficiencies at the end of the year: a promise they most honourably fulfilled. Soon after this, a plan was drawn up by one of the members (Mr. Baker) for forming, regulating and governing the Society, which being printed and dispersed, the great utility of such a society became so well understood, that immediately several noblemen and gentlemen offered themselves as members, and ever since that time its increase has been so extraordinary, that it consists at present of above 1000 members, many of whom are of the greatest quality and fortune: and it can now afford to offer premiums to the amount of near 2000l. per annum.

The officers of this Society are a President, eight Vice-presidents, a Register, and a Secretary; and these are to be chosen by ballot annually on the first Tuesday in March. Every person desiring to be a member of this Society, must be proposed by some member of the same at one of their meetings, by delivering in the name, addition, and place of abode of such person, signed by himself; which must be read by the Secretary, and balloted for at the next meeting, and if two thirds of the members then present are for admitting such person, he shall be deemed a perpetual member on payment of twenty guineas, or a subscribing member on payment of any sum not less than two guineas, and continuing such payment annually: but tho’ two guineas a year is the most common subscription, all the members that are noblemen, and even some gentlemen, subscribe five guineas, and several others four or three. There are also ladies that are subscribers; eminent foreigners are likewise admitted to be honorary members. At first they had a Treasurer, but now their money is placed in the Bank of England, in the names of the President and Vice-presidents, three whereof are impowered to draw any sum the Society shall order to be paid. And the accounts of the receipts and payments are constantly examined and balanced on the last day of every month, by a committee appointed for that purpose. Their proceedings are regulated by a body of rules and orders established by the whole Society, and printed for the use of the members. All questions and debates are determined by holding up of hands, or by ballot if required, and no matter can be confirmed without the assent of a majority at two meetings. They invite all the world to propose subjects for encouragement, and whatever is deemed deserving attention is referred to the consideration of a committee, which after due enquiry and deliberation make their report to the whole Society, where it is approved, rejected or altered. A list is printed and published every year, of the matters for which they propose to give premiums, which premiums are either sums of money, and those sometimes very considerable ones, or the Society’s medal in gold or silver ^[1], which they consider as the greatest honour they can bestow. All possible care is taken to prevent partiality in the distribution of their premiums, by desiring the claimants names may be concealed, and by appointing committees, (who when they find occasion call to their assistance the most skilful artists) for the strict examination of the real merit of all matters and things brought before them, in consequence of their premiums.

The Society’s office is opposite to Beaufort Buildings in the Strand: their meetings are every Wednesday evening at six o’clock, from the second Wednesday in November to the last Wednesday in May, and at other times on the first and third Wednesday of every month. They are exceedingly well attended, and ’tis pleasing to behold with how laudable a zeal every one endeavours to promote the public good, by encouraging whatever may improve the arts and manufactures, or increase the commerce of this kingdom and its colonies. They are not incorporated, nor seem much to want a charter, as their business can be carried on very well without one, and the expence would be too considerable; but it is hoped their generous disinterested intentions, and their extensive views to promote the trade, the riches and honour of their country, will in time recommend them to partake the royal bounty, and that they will long continue to prove themselves to be, what they are at present, as respectable and useful a society as ever was established in any nation.

Ashford, a village near Stains in Middlesex, adorned with the seats of the Earl of Kinoul, and the Duke of Argyle.

Ashted, a village in Surrey, near Epsom Wells, in one of the finest situations in England, was lately in the possession of Sir Robert Howard, brother to the Earl of Berkshire, who erected a noble edifice in this place, which he enclosed with a park. This afterwards became the estate and seat of Mr. Fielding, uncle to the late Earl of Denbigh. The church, which stands on the side of the park, has several fine monuments.

Aske’s Hospital, a handsome edifice at Hoxton, erected by the Haberdasher’s company in the year 1692, pursuant to the will of Robert Aske, Esq; who left 30,000l. for building and endowing it, in order to afford lodging and board for twenty poor men of that company, and for as many boys to be instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic. Each of the pensioners hath an apartment consisting of three neat rooms, with proper diet at a common table, and firing; the annual sum of 3l. and a gown every second year: which, together with the salaries of the chaplain, clerk, butler, porter, and other domestics, amount to about 800l. per annum.

A plan of the building was drawn by Dr. Hook, a learned mathematician of Gresham College, and upon his model it was erected in an advantageous situation, fronting the east, with grass plats before it, adorned with rows of lime trees, and inclosed with a handsome wall and iron gates. On the piers of the great gates at the south end, are two stone statues, representing two of Aske’s Hospital men, in full proportion. The principal part of the building is only one story high with garrets; where a portico with twenty-one stone pillars extends on a line on each side of the chapel, which is placed in the middle, and on each side above these pillars is a range of twenty-two very small windows. The pillars of the chapel extend to the top of the first story, and that edifice rising considerably above the rest of the building, is terminated by a handsome pediment; with a clock, under which is the effigies of the founder in stone, cloathed in his gown, and holding in his hand a roll of parchment, which seems to be his last will. Under him is the following inscription:

Fronting the entrance of the chapel is a large pair of very handsome iron gates, and at each end of the hospital is an edifice of the same height as the chapel.

Assurance Office, for granting annuities to be paid to the heirs of a person after his death. See Amicable Society. For the offices of Assurance from fire, &c. see the names by which they are distinguished, as Hand in Hand, London, Union, Sun Fire office, &c.

Asylum, or House of Refuge for Orphans and other deserted girls of the poor, within the bills of mortality, situated near Westminster-bridge, on the Surrey side. Underneath the article Magdalen Hospital, the reader will find a noble foundation formed for the reception of those unhappy women, who have been abandoned to vice; but wisely repenting of their folly, resolve to reform. This charitable foundation of which we are now going to give a description, was founded at the same time, in order to preserve poor friendless and deserted girls, from the miseries and dangers to which they would be exposed, and from the guilt of prostitution.

The evils this charity is intended to prevent, are not chimerical, but founded on facts. It too often happens, that by the death of the father, a mother intitled to no relief from any parish, is left with several helpless children, to be supplied from her industry; her resource for subsistence is usually to some low occupation, scarcely sufficient to afford bread and cloathing, and rarely the means of instruction. What then must become of the daughters of such parents, poor and illiterate as they are, and thereby exposed to every temptation? Necessity may make them prostitutes, even before their passions can have any share in their guilt. Among these unhappy objects, very agreeable features are frequently seen disguised amidst dirt and rags, and this still exposes them to greater hazards; for these are the girls which the vile procuress seeks after; she trepans them to her brothel, even while they are yet children, and she cleans and dresses them up for prostitution. But what is still more dreadful, maternal duty and affection have been so thoroughly obliterated, that even mothers themselves have been the seducers: they have insnared their children to the house of the procuress, and shared with her the infamous gain of initiating their daughters in lewdness: or if this has not been the case, they have too often been prevailed on, for a trifling consideration, to conceal and forgive the crime of the infamous bawd.

These and other considerations induced a number of Noblemen and Gentlemen, who had approved of a proposal from John Fielding, Esq; one of the Justices for the Liberties of Westminster, to hold their first meeting on the 10th of May 1758, for carrying into execution a plan of this Asylum. Several other meetings were soon after held, in which the rules and orders for the reception and management of the children were established, and the lease of a house, lately the Hercules Inn near Westminster-bridge, agreed for. This house was soon fitted up, and furnished, and the first children admitted on the 5th of July following.

I. The qualification of a perpetual Guardian is a benefaction of thirty guineas or upwards, at one payment.

II. That of an annual Guardian is a subscription of three guineas or upwards per annum.

III. Ladies subscribing the said sums, will be considered as Guardians of this charity, and have a right of voting at all general elections, by proxy, such proxy being a Guardian, or they may send a letter to the board, naming therein the person they vote for, which shall be considered as their vote. It is esteemed by the Guardians a benefit to the charity, for the Ladies occasionally to visit the house, and inspect the management of the children; the matron being ordered to attend such Ladies, and to give them all necessary information: and, whatever observations they may then make, or whatever hints, at other times, may occur to them, for the good of the charity, if they will be pleased to transmit them by letter to the Secretary, or to the Committee, who meet every Wednesday in the forenoon at the Asylum, they will be immediately taken into consideration, and have all respectful regard shewn to them.

IV. Those Gentlemen and Ladies, who have already subscribed lesser sums than thirty guineas, by making up their subscriptions to that sum, within a year, will be entered in the subscription book as perpetual Guardians.

V. There is to be an annual general meeting of the Guardians on the second Wednesday in March.

VI. A general quarterly meeting is to be held on the second Wednesday in July, the second Wednesday in January, the second Wednesday in April, and the second Wednesday in October, for auditing the accounts, and making laws and rules for the government of the charity, and for other business.

VII. A Committee is appointed, to consist of thirty Guardians, who are to meet every Wednesday at eleven o’clock in the forenoon at the Asylum, to transact the business of the charity; and they are, from time to time, to report their proceedings to the following general court, and any three of the said gentlemen constitute a quorum. In these Committees are a President, Vice-president, and a Treasurer.

VIII. The officers and servants of the house, are a Physician, two Surgeons, an Apothecary and a Chaplain.

A Secretary, who keeps the accounts of the hospital, and does all such other business as is commonly done by Secretaries, Clerks, and Registers, at other charities.

A Matron, who superintends the affairs of the house, takes care of the provisions and furniture, delivers an account of the current expences weekly to the Secretary, to be laid before the Committee. She is to see that the children are properly employed, that they are attentive to their learning, and that they behave with decency; that the teachers do their duty, and that they treat the children with humanity. The servants under her, are teachers of reading, knitting, sewing, &c. a cook, a house-maid, and a servant man.

IX. The objects to be admitted are Orphans, the daughters of necessitous parents, residing in parishes where they have no relief, and deserted girls within the bills of mortality, from eight to twelve years of age; but infirm children are not admitted, as the objects of this charity are to be constantly employed in every branch of good housewifry.

X. Each object applying for admission, must produce such certificate of her age and necessity, as shall be satisfactory to the Guardians then present; and in all cases, wherein, during the infancy of this Asylum, more objects shall apply for admission than the Asylum can at once receive, the names of the objects not admitted are entered in a book kept for that purpose, and a notice is sent to the persons, signifying the certificate of each child, of the first opportunity of taking in such children that shall happen afterwards; in filling up all which, the children, before refused, have the preference as they stand upon the entry: each of the above certificates must be signed by two substantial housekeepers, of the parish where the object resides.

XI. The children are regularly and alternately employed in reading, knitting, sewing, and in the business of the kitchen, to which latter employment four are appointed weekly, to be with the cook, to assist her, and to receive from her the necessary instructions in plain cookery, curing provisions, and other employments of the kitchen. They likewise make the beds, clean the rooms, assist in washing, and ironing the linen, and in other household business, according to their respective ages and abilities, at the discretion of the matron.

XII. The Chaplain on Sundays preaches, and performs the other parts of divine service, and catechises the children. Prayers also are read on the other days of the week, by the matron or teacher; and some portion of scripture is read by those of the children who are best able. They have also, each of them, a common prayer book, and the new testament; and other good books are likewise provided for them.

The number of children in the house in April 1759, were forty-two, and the sums raised for the support of this charitable foundation, at the same time, amounted to 2032l. 4s. 9d.

Augmentation Office in Dean’s yard, Westminster. This office belongs to a corporation, established by an act passed in the second and third years of the reign of Queen Anne, for the better maintenance of the poor Clergy, by the augmentation of small livings. This body corporate consists of the Lords of the Privy Council, the Lords Lieutenants and Custos Rotulorum, the Archbishops, Bishops, and Deans of cathedrals, the Judges, the King’s Serjeants at law, the Attorney, Sollicitor, and Advocate General, the Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors of the Universities, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London, and the Mayors of all other cities within the kingdom; seven of whom may compose a court, provided three of that number be a Privy Counsellor, a Bishop, a Judge, or one of the King’s Council, and this court may appoint committees of Governors, and invest them with such powers as they think proper.

The business of the Governors is to find out the value of every benefice under 80l. a Year, with the distance of each from London, &c. and to lay the state thereof before his Majesty, with the value of the tenths, first-fruits, &c. in order that the royal bounty may be applied to support those of the clergy, who are in the greatest distress: and this corporation has actually augmented a great number of small livings.

Austin Friars, near Broad street, was a priory founded for the Friars Eremites, of the order of St. Augustine, in the year 1253, by Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford and Essex, The Friars of this priory were Mendicants, and continued in the possession of this place till its dissolution by King Henry VIII. since which time the greatest part has been pulled down, and many handsome houses built; but a part of the old church belonging to the priory is still standing. King Edward VI. granted all the church, except the choir, to a congregation of Germans, and other strangers, who fled hither for the sake of religion, ordering it to be called the Temple of the Lord Jesus, and several successive Princes have confirmed it to the Dutch, by whom it is still used as a place of divine worship. It is a large and spacious Gothic edifice, supported by two rows of stone pillars. At the east end are several steps, which lead to a large platform, on which is placed a long table with seats against the wall, and forms round, for the use of the Holy Communion, and the windows on one side have painted on them in several places, the words Jesus Temple. On the west end over the screen is a library, thus inscribed, Ecclesiæ Londino-Belgicæ Bibliotheca, extructa sumptibus Mariæ Dubois 1659. It contains several valuable manuscripts, among which are the letters of Calvin, Peter Martyr, and other foreign reformers.

St. Austin’s Church, at the north west corner of Watling street, in the ward of Faringdon within, was dedicated to St. Austin the monk, the English Apostle. The old church having suffered in the dreadful conflagration in 1666, has been rebuilt, and the parish of St. Faith united to it. It is a rectory, and the advowson is in the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s. The Rector receives 172l. per annum in lieu of tithes.

Ax yard. 1. King’s street, Westminster.* 2. Norfolk street in the Strand.* 3. Little Britain.* 4. Blackman street.* 5. King’s street, Blackman street.*

Ayre’s Almshouse, in White’s alley, Coleman street, was founded by Mr. Christopher Ayre, Merchant, for six poor men and their wives, who committed it to the care of the Leather-sellers company, who annually pay each couple 4l.

Back alley. 1. Back hill, Hatton wall.§ 2. Back hill, Southwark.§ 3. Bear alley, Fleet ditch.§ 4. Bowling alley, Westminster.§ 5. Bridge yard, Tooley street.§ 6. St. Catharine’s lane.§ 7. Church lane, Tooley street.§ 8. Church lane, Whitechapel.§ 9. Churchyard alley, Tooley street.§ 10. Cloth fair, West Smithfield.§ 11. Crown court, King’s street, Tooley street.§ 12. East lane, Rotherhith.§ 13. Great garden, St. Catharine’s lane.§ 14. Green bank, Wapping.§ 15. March street, Wapping.§ 16. St. Martin’s le Grand.§ 17. Mill street.§ 18. Playhouse yard, Whitecross street, Cripplegate.§ 19. Three Foxes court, Long lane, West Smithfield.§

Back lane. 1. Bethnal green.§ 2. Elephant lane, Rotherhith.§ 3. Hackney.§ 4. Islington.§ 5. Lambeth Butts.* 6. Lambeth marsh.§ 7. Near Rag fair, Rosemary lane.§ 8. Near Sun Tavern fields.§ 9. Three Hammer alley, Tooley street.§

Back street. 1. Cloth fair.§ 2. Horsley down.§ 3. Lambeth.§ 4. St. Clement’s Danes.§ 5. Old street square.§

Back Street School, at Lambeth, was founded by Archbishop Tenison, about the year 1704, for the education of poor girls, who are cloathed and taught: they are at present twenty; but their number is to be increased according to the improvement of the estate. Maitland.

Back yard. 1. Angel alley, Little Moorfields.§ 2. Bell alley, Coleman street, Lothbury.§ 3. Brick lane, Old street.§ 4. Bullhead court, Jewin street.§ 5. Great Garden, St. Catharine’s.§ 6. Little Bartholomew close.§ 7. Marigold lane.§ 8. Newcastle street.§ 9. Nightingale lane.§ 10. Old Gravel lane.§ 11. Pelican court, Little Britain.§ 12. Peter lane, St. John’s street.§ 13. Pickleherring street. 14. Redcross alley, Jewin street.§ 15. Richmond street.§ 16. Ropemaker’s fields, Limehouse.§ 17. Rotherhith wall.§ 18. Rupert street.§ 19. Saltpetre bank. 20. Shakespear’s walk.§ 21. Shipwright street, Rotherhith.§ 22. Short’s street.§ 23. Silver street, Tooley street.§ 24. St. Margaret’s hill.§ 25. St. Saviour’s Dock head.§ 26. Stamford buildings.§ 27. Star street, Wapping wall.§ 28. Sun alley, Golden lane.§ 29. Swan alley, Golden lane. 30. Three Colt street.§ 31. Tooley street.§ 32. Turnmill street, Cowcross.§ 33. Vineyard.§ 34. Upper Ground street.§ 35. Upper Well alley, Wapping.§ 36. Wentworth street.§ 37. White’s yard, Rosemary lane.§ 38. Woolpack alley, Houndsditch.§

Badger’s Almshouse, at Hoxton, was founded by Mrs. Allen Badger, in the year 1698, for six poor men and their wives, who are only allowed twenty shillings a year each couple.

Bailey’s court, 1. Bell yard, Fleet street.† 2. Cock hill.† 3. Fashion street.† 4. Sheer lane.† 5. In the Strand.†

Bakers, this company is very ancient, though it does not appear to have been incorporated till about the year 1307. It is governed by a Master, four Wardens, thirty Assistants, and 195 Livery men, whose fine is 10l.

Bakers Hall, a plain edifice in Hart lane, Tower street, and formerly the dwelling house of John Chicheley, Chamberlain of London.

Baker’s alley. 1. Church lane, Whitechapel.† 2. Farmer’s street, Shadwell.† 3. Goswell street.† 4. Hart street.† 5. King’s street, Westminster.† 6. Monkwell street.† 7. St. John’s street.† 8. In the Strand. 9. Stony lane.† 10. Swallow street.†

Baldwin’s court. 1. Baldwin’s gardens.† 2. White street.* 3. Cloak lane, Dowgate hill.†

Ball alley. 1. Aldersgate street.* 2. Cannon street.* 3. Kingsland road.* 4. Lime street, Leadenhall street.* 5. Lombard street.* 6. London Wall.* 7. Long alley, Moorfields.* 8. St. Catharine’s lane.* 9. Wheeler street, Spitalfields.*

Ball court. 1. Giltspur street, without Newgate.* 2. Mincing lane, Fenchurch street.* 3. Old Bailey.* 4. Poor Jury lane, within Aldgate.*

Bancroft’s beautiful Almshouse, School and Chapel at Mile End, were erected by the Drapers company in the year 1735, pursuant to the will of Mr. Francis Bancroft, who bequeathed to that company the sum of 28,000l. and upwards, in real and personal estates, for purchasing a site, and building upon it an almshouse, with convenient apartments for twenty-four almsmen, a chapel, and school room for 100 poor boys, and two dwelling-houses for the schoolmasters, and endowing the same. He also ordered that each of the almsmen should have 8l. and half a chaldron of coals yearly, and a gown of baize every third year; that the school boys should be cloathed and taught reading, writing and arithmetic; that each of the masters, besides their houses, should have a salary of 30l. per annum, and the yearly sum of 20l. for coals and candles, for their use, and that of the school; with a sufficient allowance for books, paper, pens and ink; that the committee of the court of assistants should have 5l. for a dinner, at their annual visitation of the almshouse and school; and that 3l. 10s. should be given for two half yearly sermons to be preached in the parish churches of St. Helen and St. Michael Cornhill, or elsewhere, in commemoration of this foundation, at which the almsmen and boys were to be present. To each of these boys, when put out apprentices, he gave 4l. but if they were put to service they were to have no more than 2l. 10s. to buy them cloaths.

The edifice is not only neat but extremely elegant, consisting of two wings and a center detached from both of them. In the middle of the front is the chapel, before which is a noble portico, with Ionic columns, and coupled pilasters at the corners, supporting a pediment, in the plane of which is the dial. There is an ascent to the portico by a flight of steps, and over the chapel is a handsome turret. On each side of the portico, are two houses like those in the wings. The construction of the wings is uniform, lofty and convenient: twelve doors in each open in a regular series, and the windows are of a moderate size, numerous, and proportioned to the apartments they are to enlighten. The square is surrounded with gravel walks. with a large grass plat in the middle, and next the road the wall is adorned with handsome iron rails and gates. In short, the ends of the wings next the road being placed at a considerable distance from it, the whole is seen in a proper point of view, and appears to the greatest advantage.

It is worthy of remark, that this Bancroft, who left so large a sum for erecting and endowing this fine hospital, and even ordered two sermons to be annually preached in commemoration of his charity, was, according to the last edition of Stow’s Survey, one of the Lord Mayor’s officers, and by informations and summoning the citizens before the Lord Mayor, upon the most trifling occasions, and other things not belonging to his office, not only pillaged the poor but also many of the rich, who rather than lose time in appearing before that Magistrate, gave money to get rid of this common pest of the citizens, which, together with his numerous quarterages from the brokers, &c. enabled him to amass annually a considerable sum of money. But by these and other mercenary practices, he so incurred the hatred and ill-will of the citizens of all ranks and denominations, that the persons who attended his funeral obsequies, with great difficulty saved his corpse from being jostled off the bearers shoulders in the church, by the enraged populace, who seizing the bells, rang them for joy at his unlamented death.

Bandyleg walk. 1. Maiden lane, near Deadman’s place.║ 2. Queen street, in the Park, Southwark.║

Bank of England. This is a noble edifice, situated at the east of St. Christopher’s church, near the west end of Threadneedle street. The front next the street is about 80 feet in length, and is of the Ionic order raised on a rustic basement, as is represented in the print, and is in a good style. Through this you pass into the court yard, in which is the hall. This is of the Corinthian order, and in the middle is a pediment. The top of the building is adorned with a balustrade and handsome vases, and in the face of the above pediment is engraved, in relievo, the Company’s seal, Britannia sitting with her shield and spear, and at her feet a Cornucopia, pouring out fruit. The hall, which is in this last building, is 79 feet in length, and 40 in breadth; it is wainscoted about eight feet high; has a fine fretwork ceiling, and is adorned with the statue of King William III. which stands in a nich at the upper end; on the pedestal of which is the following inscription:

Farther backward is another quadrangle, with an arcade on the east and west sides of it; and on the north side is the accomptant’s office, which is 60 feet long, and 28 feet broad. Over this, and the other sides of the quadrangle, are handsome apartments, with a fine staircase adorned with fretwork, and under it are large vaults, that have strong walls and iron gates, for the preservation of the cash. The back entrance from Bartholomew lane is by a grand gateway, which opens into a commodious and spacious court yard for coaches, or waggons, that frequently come loaded with gold and silver bullion; and in the room fronting the gate the transfer office is kept.

The Bank was established by act of Parliament in the year 1693, under the title of The Governor and Company of the Bank of England, in consideration of a loan of 1,200,000l. granted to the government, for which the subscribers received eight per cent. By this charter, the Company are not to borrow under their common seal, unless by act of parliament; they are not to trade, or suffer any person in trust for them to trade in goods or merchandize; but may deal in bills of exchange, in buying or selling bullion, and foreign gold, or silver coin, &c.

By an act passed in the 8th and 9th years of the reign of King William III. they were empowered to enlarge their capital to 2,201,171l. 10s. It was then also enacted, that bank stock should be a personal and not a real estate; that no contract, either in word or writing, for buying or selling bank stock, should be good in law, unless registered in the books of the bank within seven days, and the stock transferred within fourteen days; and that it should be felony, without benefit of clergy, to counterfeit the common seal of the Bank, any sealed bank bill, any bank note, or to alter or erase such bills or notes.

In the 7th of Queen Anne, the Company were, by another act, impowered to increase their capital to 4,402,343l. and at the same time they advanced 400,000l. more to the government; and in 1714, they advanced the sum of 1,500,000l.

In the third year of the reign of King George I. the interest of their capital was reduced to 5l. per cent. when the Bank agreed to deliver up as many Exchequer bills as amounted to two millions, and to accept of an annuity of 100,000l. per annum. It was also declared lawful for the Bank to call for from their members, in proportion to their interests in the capital stock, such sums, as in a general court should be found necessary; but if any member should neglect to pay his share of the money so called for, at the time appointed, by notice in the London Gazette and fixed up in the Royal Exchange, it should be lawful for the Bank, not only to stop the dividend of such member, and to apply it towards the payment of the money so called for, but also to stop the transfers of such defaulter, and to charge him with an interest of 5l. per cent. per annum, for the money so omitted to be paid; and if the principal and interest should be three months unpaid, the Bank should have power to sell so much of the stock belonging to the defaulter as would satisfy the same. This stock is now called Bank Circulation, every proprietor of which receives 5l. per cent. per annum, but is obliged to advance, if called for, 1000l. for every 100l. so paid in.

The Bank afterwards consented to have the interest of two millions still due from the government, reduced from 5 to 4 per cent. The Company also purchased several other annuities, that were afterwards redeemed by the government, and the national debt due to the Bank was reduced to 1,600,000.

At length in 1742, the Company agreed to supply the government with 1,600,000l. at 3l. per cent., by which means the government became indebted to the Company 3,200,000l. the one half carrying 4, and the other 3 per cent.

In 1746, the Company consented that the sum of 986,800l. due to them in Exchequer bills unsatisfied, on the duties for licences to sell spirituous liquors by retail, should be cancelled, and in lieu thereof to accept of an annuity of 39,442l. the interest of that sum at 4l. per cent. The Company also agreed to advance the farther sum of 1,000,000l. upon the credit of the duties arising by the malt and land tax, at 4l. per cent. for Exchequer bills to be issued for that purpose, in consideration of which the Company were enabled to augment their capital with 986,800l. the interest of which, as well as that of the other annuities, was reduced to 3l. 10s. per cent. till the 25th of December 1757, and from that time they carry only 3l. per cent.

In short, several other sums have since been raised by the Bank for the service of the government: but the above is sufficient to give a full idea of the nature of the several species of annuities; only it may be proper to add, that what is called Bank Stock is entirely distinct from these, and may not improperly be termed, the trading stock of the Company, since with this they discount bills, and deal very largely in foreign gold, &c. which they only buy by weight, which trade is so very considerable, as to render a share in this stock very valuable, tho’ it is not equal in value to the East India stock. The Company make dividends of the profits half yearly. Pocket Library.

The hour of transfer is from eleven to twelve o’clock, and the hours of payment of dividends from nine to eleven, and from twelve to one; except on the following Holidays.

This Company is under the direction of a Governor, Deputy Governor and twenty-four Directors, who are annually elected at a general court, in the same manner as the Governor and the Directors of the East India company. Thirteen are sufficient to compose a court of Directors, for managing the affairs of the Company; but if both the Governor and Deputy Governor should be absent two hours after the usual time of proceeding to business, the Directors may chuse a chairman by majority, all their acts being equally valid, as if the Governor or Deputy Governor were present.

Bannister’s alley. 1. Broad St. Giles’s.† 2. Nightingale lane, East Smithfield.†

Banqueting House, Whitehall, so called from there being originally in this place an edifice in which our Kings had public entertainments. This was a small part of the ancient palace of Whitehall, which was destroyed by fire in 1697, and only the Banqueting House, and one court left standing. See the article Whitehall.

In the reign of King James I. the Banqueting House being in a ruinous condition, that Monarch formed the design of erecting a palace on the spot, worthy the residence of the Kings of England. The celebrated Inigo Jones was employed to draw the plan of a noble edifice; this was done, and the present structure erected, as a small part of the great intended work, for the reception of ambassadors, and other audiences of state. The engraved view of it, which is here given, will best illustrate what follows.

This is a regular and august building which has three stories. The lowest has a rustic wall, with small square windows, and by its strength happily serves for a basis for the orders. Upon this is raised the Ionic, with columns and pilasters, and between the columns are well-proportioned windows, with arched and pointed pediments. Over these is placed the proper entablature, and on this is raised a second series of the Corinthian order, consisting of columns and pilasters like the other; column being placed over column, and pilaster over pilaster. From the capitals are carried festoons, which meet with masks and other ornaments in the middle. This series is also crowned with its proper entablature, on which is raised the balustrade with Attic pedestals between, which crown the work. Every thing in this building is finely proportioned, and as happily executed. The projection of the columns from the wall has a fine effect in the entablatures, which being brought forward in the same proportion, gives that happy diversity of light and shade so essential to fine architecture. English Architecture.

To render this edifice as perfect as possible, the ceiling is finely painted by the celebrated Sir Peter Paul Rubens, who was ambassador here in the time of Charles I. The subject is the entrance, inauguration, and coronation of King James I. represented by Pagan emblems. It is esteemed one of his most capital performances, and may be justly esteemed one of the finest ceilings in the world. This great apartment is at present converted into a chapel, for the service of which certain select preachers were appointed out of each university, by King George I. to preach here every Sunday; for this each are allowed a stipend of 30l. a year.

Bansted, a village in Surrey, situated between Dorking and Croydon, famous for producing a great number of walnuts; but much more for its neighbouring Downs, one of the most delightful spots in England, on account of the agreeable seats in that neighbourhood; for the extensive prospect of several counties on both sides the Thames, and even of the royal palaces of Windsor and Hampton Court; and for the fineness of the turf, covered with a short grass intermixed with thyme, and other fragrant herbs, that render the mutton of this tract, though small, remarkable for its sweetness. In these Downs there is a four miles course for horse races, which is much frequented.

Baptists, a sect of dissenters, thus denominated from their baptizing by immersing the body all over, and from their not considering infants as proper subjects of baptism. They are principally divided into two classes, termed general and particular. The general Baptists, who with Arminius maintain the doctrine of universal redemption, consist of only six congregations, who have their meeting-houses as follows:

1. Fair street, Horsely down. 2. Glasshouse yard, Pickax street, near Aldersgate bars. 3. Mill yard, Rosemary lane. 4. Pinner’s hall, Broad street, in the afternoon. 5. Paul’s alley, Redcross street, where are two different congregations, who maintain their own Minister. 6. Queen street, in the Park, Southwark.

The particular Baptists, who with Calvin believe that none will be saved but the elect, and that all the rest of mankind are doomed to eternal misery, are much more numerous, and have the following meetings.

1. Angel alley, Whitechapel. 2. Artillery street, Spitalfields. 3. Brewers hall, Addle street. 4. Cherry Garden lane, Rotherhith. 5. Church lane, Limehouse. 6. Collier’s rents, White street, Southwark. 7. Curriers court, near Cripplegate. 8. Devonshire square, Bishopsgate street without. 9. Dipping alley, Horselydown, Southwark. 10. Duke’s street, near Pepper street. 11. Eagle street, Red lion street, Holborn. 12. Flower de luce yard, Tooley street. 13. Glasshouse street, Swallow street. 14. Goat yard passage, Horselydown. 15. Johnson’s street, Old Gravel lane. 16. Little Wild street, Great Wild street. 17. Little Wood street, Cripplegate. 18. Maze Pond street, Southwark. 19. Maidenhead court, Great Eastcheap. 20. New Way, Maze, Southwark. 21. Pennington’s street, Virginia street. 22. Pepper street, Southwark. 23. Rose lane, Limehouse. 24. Rosemary branch alley, Rosemary lane. 25. Rotherhith. 26. St. John’s court, Little Hart street. 27. Sheer’s alley, White street, Southwark. 28. Snow fields. 29. Unicorn yard, St. Olave’s. 30. Union yard, Horselydown lane. 31. Vinegar row, Shoreditch.

Barbers. The art of surgery was anciently practised in this city by none but the Barbers, who were incorporated by letters patent granted by King Edward IV. in the Year 1461, and in 1512 an act was passed to prevent any persons besides the Barbers practising surgery within the city of London, and seven miles round. At length several persons, who were not Barbers, being examined and admitted as practitioners in the art of surgery, the parliament united them in the thirty-second year of the reign of King Henry VIII. by the appellation of the Masters or Governors of the mystery or commonalty of Barbers and Surgeons of the city of London; and by this act all persons practising the art of shaving, are strictly enjoined not to intermeddle with that of surgery, except what belongs to drawing of teeth. Thus this company obtained the name of Barber-Surgeons, which they continued to enjoy till the eighteenth year of the reign of his present Majesty King George II. when the Surgeons applying to Parliament to have this union dissolved, were formed into a separate company; though the Barbers were left in possession of the hall and theatre, and were constituted a body politic, under the name of the Master, Governors and Commonalty of the mystery of Barbers of London.

This company has a Master and three other Governors, a court of Assistants of twenty-four members, and a very numerous livery.

Barbers Hall, a fine edifice on the west side of Monkwell street, consisting of a spacious hall room, a court room, theatre, library, and other commodious offices. The grand entrance from Monkwell street is enriched with the company’s arms, large fruit, and other decorations. The court room has a fretwork ceiling, and is also adorned with the pictures of King Henry VIII. and the court of Assistants, in one fine piece; a portrait of King Charles II. and other paintings. The theatre contains four degrees of cedar seats, one above another, in an elliptical form, and the roof is an elliptical cupola; this room is adorned with a bust of King Charles I. the figures of the seven liberal sciences, and the twelve signs of the Zodiac; the skins of a man and woman on wooden frames, in imitation of Adam and Eve; the figure of a man flayed, done after the life, all the muscles appearing in their due place, and proportion; the skeleton of an ostrich; an human skeleton, with copper joints, and five other skeletons of human bodies. But as this furniture was introduced by the Surgeons, it is now of no use, and the theatre is entirely deserted.

This Hall is one of the works of that great architect Inigo Jones, and is a masterpiece in its kind, that elegant simplicity which characterises all his works, giving the spectator the highest satisfaction.

Barbican, Aldersgate street, so called from a high watch tower which stood there, from which a view might be taken of the whole city. Barbican, according to Camden, being an Arabic word signifying a watch tower.

Baremere’s Almshouse, in Almshouse yard, Hoxton, which was built about the year 1701, by the Rev. Mr. Baremere, a Presbyterian Minister, for eight poor women, who have no other allowance but half a chaldron of coals each per annum. Maitland.

Barking, a large market town in Essex, situated ten miles from London, on a creek that leads to the Thames, from whence fish is sent up in boats to London, the town being chiefly inhabited by fishermen. The parish has been so much enlarged by lands recovered from the Thames, and the river Rothing, which runs on the west side of the town, that it has two chapels of ease, one at Ilford, and another called New chapel, on the side of Epping forest, and the great and small tithes are computed at above 600l. per annum. At a small distance from the town, in the way to Dagenham, stood a large old house, where the gunpowder plot is said to have been formed.

Barking alley, Tower street, by Tower hill, so called from the church of Allhallows, Barking.

Barnes, a village in Surrey, almost encompassed by the Thames. It lies between Mortlake and Barn Elms, and is seven miles from London, and five from Kingston.

Barnet, a market town in Hertfordshire, situated in the road to St. Alban’s, eleven miles from London, on the top of a hill, whence it is called High Barnet, and also Chipping, or Cheaping Barnet, from King Henry the Second’s granting the monks of St. Alban’s the privilege of holding a market here; the word Cheap, or Chepe, being an ancient word for a market. As this place is a great thoroughfare, it is well supplied with inns. The church is a chapel of ease to the village of East Barnet. Here is a free school founded by Q. Elizabeth, and endowed partly by that Princess, and partly by Alderman Owen, of London, whose additional endowment is paid by the Fishmongers company, who appoint 24 governors, by whom the master and usher are chosen to teach seven children gratis, and all the other children of the parish for 5s a quarter. Here is also an almshouse founded and endowed by James Ravenscroft, Esq; for six widows.

This place is remarkable for the decisive battle fought there between the houses of York and Lancaster, on Easter day, 1468, in which the great Earl of Warwick, stiled the Setter up, and Puller down of Kings, was slain, with many others of the principal nobility. The place supposed to be the field of battle, is a green spot, a little before the meeting of the St. Alban’s and Hatfield roads: and here, in the year 1740, a stone column was erected, on which is inscribed a long account of that battle.

Barnet (East) a pleasant village in Hertfordshire, near Whetstone and Enfield Chace, formerly much frequented on account of its medicinal spring, which was discovered in a neighbouring common about an hundred years ago. The church is a mean edifice; but the rectory is very beneficial.

Here is the fine seat of the Lord Trevor, to which Queen Elizabeth gave the name of Mount Pleasant.

Baron’s Almshouse, in Elbow lane, Shadwell, was founded in the year 1682, by George Baron, for fifteen poor women, who also endowed it with 5l. 4s. per annum for bread.

Bartholomew close, near Smithfield, so called from its being situated near the church of St. Bartholomew the Great.

St. Bartholomew’s Church, situated at the south east corner of Bartholomew lane, behind the Royal Exchange, was one of the churches consumed in the general conflagration in 1666, and this structure arose in its place. It consists of a very irregular body, with a tower suited to it, the top of which, instead of pinnacles, a spire, or turrets, is crowned with arches, supported by columns of the Corinthian order. It is a rectory, in the gift of the Crown, and the Rector receives 100l. a year in lieu of tithes.

Bartholomew lane, extends from Threadneedle street to Lothbury, and is so named from St. Bartholomew’s church at the corner.

St. Bartholomew the Great, situated near the east end of Duck lane, on the north east side of Smithfield, escaped the flames in 1666, and is a large plain church, with a tower crowned with a turret. It is a rectory in the patronage of the Earl of Holland, The Rector’s profits, besides casualties, amount to about 60l. per annum.

St. Bartholomew the Less, is seated on the south east side of Smithfield, adjoining to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. It was founded in the year 1102, and belonged to the neighbouring convent of the same name; but as it was not destroyed by the fire in 1666, it remains in the same state it was in before that dreadful calamity. It is a low building, composed of brick and rough stone plaistered; and consists of a roofed body with Gothic windows, and a tower with a corner turret. This church is a vicarage, in the gift of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council, who upon receiving the grant of the church and hospital, covenanted to pay the Vicar 13l. 6s. 8d. per annum, which, with an allowance from the hospital, and casualties, amounts to about 120l. per annum.

St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, on the south east of Smithfield, for the cure of the poor, sick and lame, formerly belonged to the Priory of St. Bartholomew in Smithfield; but both the priory and hospital being dissolved by K. Henry VIII. that Monarch, in the last year of his reign, founded the hospital anew, and endowed it with the annual revenue of 500 marks, upon condition that the city should pay the same sum, which proposal was readily embraced, and the managers of this foundation were incorporated by the name of The Hospital of the Mayor, Commonalty and Citizens of London, Governors for the poor, called Little St. Bartholomew’s, near West Smithfield. Since that time the hospital has received prodigious benefactions from great numbers of charitable persons, by which means not only the poor of London and Southwark, but the distressed of any other parts of the King’s dominions, and from foreign countries, are taken in, whether sick or maimed, and have lodging, food, attendance, and medicines, with the advice and assistance of some of the best Physicians and Surgeons in the kingdom, who belong to the hospital, and attend the patients as occasion requires; they have also matrons and nurses, to look after and assist them; and at their discharge when cured, some, who live at a considerable distance, are relieved with money, cloaths, and other necessaries, to enable them to return to their several habitations. Pity it is that so noble and humane a foundation should want any thing to render it perfect, and that every sick person who is admitted, except such as have suffered by sudden accidents, as the fracture or dislocation of a bone, should be obliged to deposit or give security for the payment of a guinea, in case of death, in order to defray the expence of the funeral; for by this some of the poorest and most miserable, and consequently the most proper objects, are unhappily excluded from reaping the benefit they might otherwise receive from it: but this is also the case of several of the other hospitals of this city; however many thousands of persons labouring under the most dreadful diseases and wounds, are annually cured at this hospital, and in those of Kent street in Southwark, and the Lock at Kingsland, both of which are dependent on it. Besides all this, there are great numbers of out-patients, who receive advice and medicines gratis.

The ancient hospital which escaped the fire of London becoming ruinous, it was found absolutely necessary in the year 1729 to rebuild it; a plan for that purpose was formed, and a grand edifice erected, by subscription, which was designed to be only one out of four noble detached piles of building, to be afterwards raised, about a court or area 250 feet in length, and 60 in breadth.

The original design is now nearly compleated, and this hospital altogether forms a very elegant building, or rather buildings, for the sides which compose the quadrangle do not join at the angles, as is usual, but by four walls, each having a large gate which admits you into the area, as may be seen in the print. Here is a staircase painted and given by Mr. Hogarth, containing two pictures with figures large as the life, which for truth of colouring and expression may vie with any thing of its kind in Europe. The subject of the one is the Good Samaritan, the other the Pool of Bethesda.

Basinghall street, Cateaton street, extends on the east and north sides of Blackwell hall, anciently called Basing hall. Tho’ this street is neither uniform nor regularly built, it has many handsome houses inhabited by merchants. It received its name from its belonging to the family of the Basings. Stow. See Blackwell Hall.

Basket-makers, a fraternity by prescription, and not by charter; however, they have the honour of being reckoned one of the city companies. This community is governed by two Wardens and forty-eight Assistants; but has neither livery nor hall.

Bassishaw ward, so called from a corruption of Basinghall, once the principal house in it, is bounded on the north by Cripplegate ward, on the west by that and Cheap wards, and on the south and east by Coleman street ward. See the article Blackwell Hall.

This ward is very small, it only consisting of Basinghall street. Its principal buildings are St. Michael’s church, also called Bassishaw church; Blackwell hall; Coopers hall; Masons hall; and Weavers hall.

It is governed by an Alderman, his Deputy, four Common Council men, seventeen wardmote inquestmen, two scavengers, two constables, and a beadle: and the jurymen returned by the wardmote inquest in this ward, serve in the several courts of Guildhall in the month of March.

Battersey, a village in Surrey, situated on the river Thames, four miles from London, and at the same distance from Richmond. The gardens about this place are noted for producing the finest asparagus. It gave the title of baron to the late Lord Viscount St. John, who had a seat here, which is a plain old building. Here Sir Walter St. John founded a free school for twenty boys.

Bath street. 1. Cold Bath fields, thus named from the Cold Bath near it. 2. Welbeck street, thus named from the Earl of Bath.

Battlebridge. 1. Gray’s inn lane, 2. Mill lane, Tooley street, Southwark; it was so called from Battle’s abbey; it standing over a water-course, which flows out of the Thames, and formerly belonged to that abbey. This bridge was therefore built and repaired by the Abbots of that house. Stow.

Baynard’s castle lane, Thames street, so called from a castle of that name built there by William Baynard Lord of Dunmow. Camden.

Bayning’s Almshouse, in Gunpowder alley, Crutched Friars, was erected in the year 1631, by Paul Viscount Sudbury, for ten poor housekeepers; but being surrendered to the parish, they have made it their almshouse.

Beaconsfield, a small town in Buckinghamshire, in the road to Oxford, about 23 miles from London. It has several good inns, and is remarkable for being the birth-place of Mr. Waller, the celebrated poet, who had a great estate, and a handsome seat here, which is still in the possession of Edmund Waller, Esq; his descendant. There is a fine monument erected in the church yard, to the memory of Mr. Waller the poet.

Beak street, Swallow street, Piccadilly, so called from most of the houses belonging to Col. Beak.

Bear Key, or Bear quay, near the Custom house. There are two streets of this name, Great and Little Bear Key, which lead from Thames street to the water side. On the key opposite to them, are landed vast quantities of corn, and formerly much bear, a small sort of barley, now little used in England; tho’ a great deal of it is brewed into ale and beer in Dublin, and from this grain Bear key undoubtedly took its name.

Bear yard. 1. Fore street, Lambeth.* 2. Long walk, King John’s court.* 3. Silver street.* 4. Vere street, Claremarket.*

Beck’s rents. 1. Ropemaker’s fields, Limehouse.† 2. Rosemary lane, Little Tower hill.†

Lords of the Bedchamber, fourteen officers of great distinction, under the Lord Chamberlain; the first of whom is Groom of the Stole. They are usually persons of the highest quality, and their office is, each in his turn, to wait one week in the King’s bedchamber, and there to lie all night on a pallet bed by the King, and to supply the place of the Groom of the Stole in his absence. They also wait upon the King when he eats in private; for the cupbearers, carvers, and sewers do not then wait. The Groom of the Stole has 2000l. a year, and the rest of the Lords of the Bedchamber 1000l. a year each. See Groom of the Stole.

Grooms of the Bedchamber, eight officers of considerable rank under the Lords of the bedchamber, each of whom has a salary of 500l. per annum.

Beddington, in Surrey, the seat and manor of the ancient family of the Carews, is a noble edifice; but the wings are too deep for the body of the house; for they should either have been placed at a greater distance, or not have been so long. The court before them is fine, as is the canal in the park, which lies before this court, and has a river running through it. All the flat part of the park is taken up with very fine gardens, which extend in vistas two or three miles. The orangery is said to be the only one in England that is planted in the natural ground, and the trees, which are above an hundred years old, were brought out of Italy by Sir Francis Carew, Bart. They are, however, secured in the winter by moveable covers. The pleasure house, which was also built by Sir Francis, has the famous Spanish Armada painted on the top of it, and under it is a cold bath. The church is a beautiful small Gothic pile, built of stone, in the north and south isles of which are several stalls after the manner of cathedrals: and here is also two charity schools, one for boys, and the other for girls.

Bedford court. 1. Bedford street, Covent Garden. 2. Red Lion street, Holborn. 3. In the Strand.

Bedford street. 1. Covent garden, a handsome broad street. It takes its name from the Duke of Bedford, who is at least ground landlord. 2. Red Lion street, Holborn; a very handsome strait and well built street, inhabited by persons of distinction.

Beer lane, a crooked lane leading from Tower street into Thames street, opposite the Custom house.

Bell alley. 1. Aldersgate street without.* 2. Austin Friars.* 3. Budge row.* 4. Canon street, Walbrook.* 5. Coleman street, Lothbury, where there are two allies of this name.* 6. Dean street, Ratcliff highway.* 7. Dock head.* 8. Fenchurch street.* 9. Golden lane.* 10. Goswell street.* 11. Great Carter lane.* 12. Great Eastcheap.* 13. Green alley, Tooley street.* 14. Kingsland road.* 15. King street, Westminster.* 16. Labour-in-vain hill, Thames street.* 17. Lamb street.* 18. New stairs, Wapping.* 19. Old Bedlam.* 20. Old street.* 21. Saffron hill.* 22. Snow hill.* 23. Spital yard.* 24. Thieving lane.* 25. Tooley street, Southwark.* 26. Turnmill street.* 27. Walbrook.*

Bell court. 1. Gray’s inn lane.* 2. Great Carter lane.* 3. Grub street.* 4. Moorfields.* 5. St. Martin’s le grand.* 6. Thomas street.

Bell Savage inn yard, Ludgate hill. This inn was so called from its being kept by Isabella Savage, who was called in French Belle Sauvage, or lovely Savage. Fullers Church Hist.

Bell yard. 1. Barnaby street.* 2. Coleman street.* 3. Fleet street.* 4. Fore street, Lambeth.* 5. Gracechurch street.* 6. Great Carter lane.* 7. King’s street, Westminster.* 8. Little St. Martin’s lane, Charing cross.* 9. Long alley, Moorfields.* 10. Mincing lane.* 11. Mount street.* 12. New Fish street hill.* 13. Old Fish street hill.* 14. Rosemary lane.* 15. St. Margaret’s hill, Southwark.* 16. Stony lane.* 17. Vine street.* 18. Whitechapel.* 19. Whitehorse street, Ratcliff.*

Belsyse, in Middlesex, is situated on the south west side of Hampstead hill, and was a fine seat belonging to the Lord Wotton, and afterwards to the late Earl of Chesterfield: but in the year 1720, it was converted into a place of polite entertainment, particularly for music, dancing, and play, when it was much frequented on account of its neighbourhood to London: but since that time it has been suffered to run to ruin.

Belvedere House, this belongs to Sampson Gideon, Esq; is situated on the brow of a hill, near Erith in Kent, and commands a vast extent of a fine country many miles beyond the Thames, which is about a mile and half distant. This river and navigation add greatly to the beauty of this scene, which exhibits to the eye of the delighted spectator, as pleasing a landskip of the kind as imagination can form. The innumerable ships employed in the immense trade of London, are beheld continually sailing up and down the river. On the other side are prospects not less beautiful, tho’ of another kind. This gentleman has very judiciously laid out his grounds, and made many beautiful vistas. The house is but small, tho’ an addition has been made of a very noble room; this and two others are finely furnish’d with pictures, of which follows a catalogue. The collection, though not numerous, is very valuable, it containing none but pieces which are originals by the greatest masters, and some of them very capital.

Benjamin street. 1. Cow cross.† 2. Longditch, Westminster.† 3. Red Lion street, Clerkenwell.† 4. Swallow street.†

St. Bennet Fink, was dedicated to St. Benedict, vulgarly called St. Bennet, an Italian saint, the founder of the order of Benedictine monks; and received the additional name of Fink from its rebuilder Robert Fink. It is situated on the south side of Thread-needle-street. The old church being destroyed in the general conflagration in 1666, the present edifice was erected in its room. The body is of an irregular form, enlightened by large arched windows, which reach to the roof; this is incompassed with a balustrade, and crowned with a lantern: a dome rises upon the whole extent of the tower, and on its top rises a turret.

This church is a curacy in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Windsor, who generally supply it with one of their own Canons. The Curate receives 100l. a year in lieu of tithes.

St. Bennet’s Gracechurch street, is situated at the south west corner of Fenchurch street. The old church being much damaged by the fire in 1666, was taken down, and the present structure erected in its place, which is built principally of stone, and is a regular, convenient, and neat edifice, without the expence of columns and porticos. It has a handsome balustrade at the top, and a very high spire of the obelisk kind, the base of which is supported by four porticos.

This church is a rectory in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s; and the parish of St. Leonard Eastcheap is annexed to it. The Rector receives 140l. a year in lieu of tithes.

St. Bennet’s Paul’s Wharf, is so called from its being consecrated to St. Benedict, and its vicinity to that wharf. It is situated at the south west corner of St. Bennet’s hill, and the old church being destroyed by the fire of London in 1666, this was erected in its place, from a design of Sir Christopher Wren. It is a neat structure; the body is well proportioned: the tower has rustic corners, and its turret and small spire are raised from the crown of a dome.

This church is a rectory, the collation to which is in the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s. The parish of St. Peter Paul’s Wharf is united to it, and the Rector receives 100l. a year in lieu of tithes.

St. Bennet’s Sherehog, stood opposite to St. Sythe’s lane, in St. Pancras lane, and in the ward of Cheap. In the year 1323, it went by the name of St. Osyth, from its being dedicated to a queen and martyr of that name; but she was divested of the tutelage of this church, by Benedict Shorne, a fishmonger of London, who was a rebuilder, repairer, or benefactor to it; and Shorne his surname, being corrupted into Shrog, was at last converted into Sherehog. This church sharing the common fate of the general conflagration in 1666, and not being rebuilt, the parish was annexed to that of St. Stephen’s Walbrook. Newc. Rep. Eccl. Paroch.

Bennet’s court. 1. Beggars hill, Southwark.† 2. Canon row.† 3. Drury lane.† 4. Limehouse causeway.† 5. Long lane, Southwark.† 6. The Strand.† 7. White street.†

Bennet’s hill, Thames street, thus named from the church of St. Bennet’s Paul’s Wharf.

Bennet’s street. 1. Longditch.† 2. Near the Upper ground, Southwark.† 3. St. James’s street.†

Berkhamsted, an ancient town in Hertfordshire, situated 30 miles to the N. W. of London. It was anciently a Roman town, and here some of the Saxon kings kept their court. William the Conqueror here swore to the nobility to preserve the laws made by his predecessors; and here Henry II. kept his court, and granted the town all the laws and liberties it had enjoyed under Edward the Confessor. It was a borough in the reign of Henry III. and James I. to whose children this place was a nursery, made it a corporation, by the name of the Bailiff and Burgesses of Berkhamsted St. Peter; the Burgesses to be twelve, to chuse a Recorder, and Town Clerk, to have a prison, &c. but in the next reign it was so impoverished by the civil wars, that the government was dropp’d, and has not been since renewed. Its market is also much decayed. The town, though situated on the south side of a marsh, extends itself far in a broad street, and handsome buildings, and is pleasantly surrounded with high and hard ground, full of pastures, hedgerows, and arable land. What remains of the castle, which is but one third of it, was not long ago the seat of the Careys, and is now the seat of the family of the Ropers. Here is a spacious church dedicated to St. Peter, which has eleven of the Apostles on its pillars, with a sentence of the creed on each, and on the twelfth pillar is St. George killing the dragon. The other public buildings are, a free school, which is a handsome brick structure, well endowed, the King being patron, and the Warden of All Souls College in Oxford, Visitor; and a handsome almshouse, built and endowed by Mr. John Sayer and his wife, who gave 1300l. for that purpose.

Berkley Square, near Hyde Park road, contains about three acres, and is well built on the north, east and west sides.

The following is an account of the choice and valuable collection of pictures and prints of John Barnard, Esq; at his house in Berkley square.

A holy family, by Parmegiano, well preserved, and the characters very fine. It was out of the Count de Platembourg’s collection at Amsterdam.

A crucifixion, by Paulo Veronese, about three feet high; there is a fine group of figures at bottom, and the figures on the cross are remarkably well drawn.

Christ calling to Zaccheus; and the Angel appearing to St. John in the wilderness; both by Paulo Veronese, in his finest manner and highest colouring.

A præsepe, or nativity, by Jacomo Bassan; the light comes from the child, and has a surprizing effect, being in his highest colouring. These three last are upright narrow pictures, oval at top, and were originally designed for some elegant little chapel.

Christ led to be crucified, by the same master; the colouring is the richest; and the expression is much finer than one often sees of Bassan.

Adam ploughing and Eve spinning, by Domenico Fetti: this picture is finely coloured, and the character of Eve is prettier than can well be expressed; it was in the collection of Monsieur Biberon at Paris, and Monsieur Crozat mentions it in his work, along with two others of the same subject, one of which belongs to the King of France.

A holy family, with a little St. John presenting a cross, by Guido. This picture, which is but fifteen inches high, may be truly said to be in his very finest manner; the characters of the Virgin and St. Joseph are inexpressibly fine, and it is in the best preservation. It was in the Duke de Tallard’s collection.

The martyrdom of a female saint, by Correggio. This picture came out of the same collection as the last, and is much of the same size; it is in his first manner, but yet visibly of his hand; the colouring and some of the characters are fine. The Duke of Tallard had it out of the collection of Monsieur Crozat, where it was always esteemed a true picture of Correggio.

A holy family, with a little St. John presenting a dish of fruit, by Simone da Pesaro, commonly called Cantarini, who was the best disciple of Guido. The figures are half length as big as life. True pictures of this master are very scarce in England, and this is one of his best, and in the highest preservation.

The Virgin with the child in her lap, half length, as big as life, by Vandyck. The character of the Virgin is as sweet, and the colouring as fine, as any thing of this master’s painting. This was out of the collection of Monsieur Biberon, and there is an old print of this picture.

A holy family, by the same master. This is the small picture, but the characters of the Virgin and child, and the sweetness and mellowness of the colouring, are at least equal to the large one. There is a print of this by Bolswert.

A head of St. Peter, with a fish in his hand, by Spagnoletto. The expression and force in this picture are extremely great. There is a mezzotinto print engraved after it by Mr. MacArdell.

Pharoah and his host drowned in the Red sea, about five feet wide, by Valerio Castelli. The character of Moses is very great, and the colouring throughout is remarkably fine.

The conversion of St. Paul, by Luca Jordano, with many figures and horsemen, about six feet wide. This is one of his best, in the free and spirited style, for which he was most famous.

A battle, by the same master, not quite so large. The composition in this picture is better, and the figures seem more alive and in motion, than in almost any battle pieces to be met with.

Tobit burying the dead, by Benedetto Castiglione, in the style of Nicola Poussin, which master (in his latter time) he particularly studied and imitated; and he succeeded therein so well, in this picture, both in the composition and drawing, that was not his name upon it, several of the best judges have declared, they should not only have taken it for a true picture of that master, but also for a very fine one of him.

A landskip, by Claude Lorrain, near four feet wide; the subject is a warm evening; it is in the highest preservation, not in the least turned black, and in his very finest taste and manner of painting: the keeping, and that harmony and tenderness of tints, for which that master was so famous, are remarkably conspicuous in this picture, and the figures, which are but few, are much better than one generally sees in his works.

A præsepe, by Pietro da Cortona: the composition and the harmony of colours in this picture are very fine.

The entombing of Christ, by Federico Barocci: the dead body is rather disagreeable, but some of the characters are very fine. This was out of the Duke D’Auvergne’s collection at Paris.

The adoration of the Magi, by Rubens: this is only a sketch for a large picture, yet it is so finished, that at a proper distance the characters are as expressive, and the colouring as rich as in a finish’d picture.

St. Thomas, who disbelieves putting his finger in the wound in Christ’s side, by Michael Angelo Caravaggio. This is also a sketch, but the dignity in the characters, and the fine large folds of drapery, shew it to be the work of a great master. Mr. Barnard has a print of this picture etch’d by the master himself, which is extremely scarce.

The stoning of St. Stephen, by Filippo Lauri. Though the figures in this picture are rather larger than those which are in his very best manner, yet they are finely drawn, and the gaiety and beauty of the colouring, together with the fine keeping observed in the distant figures, make it a very pleasing and fine picture.

Christ’s agony in the garden, by the same master. The figures in this are smaller than in the preceding; and the fine characters, and correctness of drawing of the figures, joined to the beautiful colouring, have always made this picture, though a very small one, esteemed by the greatest judges as one of his best.

The same subject in a round, about a foot diameter, by Carlo Maratti; the angels heads are fine, and the colouring pleasing. This picture belonged to Mr. Jarvis the painter, who had a companion to it by the same hand, the subject a dead Christ; he valued them very highly.

A holy family, by the same master, about one foot seven inches high; this is painted in his best time and finest colouring.

A Silence, by Nicolo Poussin: the subject a landskip, the evening, in which a little boy is running away with a Satyr’s musical instrument as he lies asleep; other figures are lying and leaning in a reposed manner. Though this picture is only about seventeen inches wide, and the figures but small, yet they are as genteel, and as correctly drawn, as in any of his finest pictures.

The woman taken in adultery, by Sebastian Ricci. The greatness of the design the dignity and propriety of the characters, particularly the woman, and the harmony of the colours, shew him to be (tho’ a modern master) equal to most of the greatest that went before him.

Two misers counting and setting down their money; the same subject, but with some variation as that at Windsor, by Quintin Matsys of Antwerp, who repeated this picture several times.

An old man’s head with a ruff, painted by Rembrant. It is thought to be the portrait of Ephraim Bonus the Physician, as it bears a great resemblance to the print of him engraved by Rembrant himself, but in the picture he is much older. The light and shade in this picture is extremely fine. Mr. Houston, an excellent engraver in mezzotinto, has engraved a very fine print after this picture.

A fine landskip with Tobit and the Angel, near three feet wide, by the same master; the effect of colours in this picture is surprising.

An historical subject, a woman and three children, &c. by Solimene. This is better coloured, and more finished, than one generally sees of this master.

Angels holding a mitre over St. Ambrose, a finished sketch for a large picture, by the same master. The character of St. Ambrose is very fine, and the draperies are in a great style of painting.

Susannah and the Elders, by Le Moine. The colouring of the woman, who is near naked, is very fine, and the composition and the landskip are very agreeable.

A little boy and girl naked in a landskip of a garden, by Albano, in his richest colouring.

A battle, by Bourgognone, about two feet wide; this is clearer and better coloured than most of his pictures usually are.

Two landskips, by Gaspar Poussin, about two feet two inches wide each. They are in his finest green manner, and extremely well preserved.

Another landskip, by the same master, a little larger but upright, and also in his richest and best manner.

A landskip with rocks, and a man lying reading, by Salvator Rosa, about two feet two inches wide. This is one of those pictures that were engraved and published by direction of Mr. Pond some years ago: it belonged then to Mr. Kent.

A landskip, its companion, by Bartolomeo, a disciple of the above master. The figures and water in this picture are remarkably fine.

A landskip, a warm evening, about the same size, by Jean Asselin, commonly called Crabacci, with cattle in the water by Berchem in his finest manner. Mr. Major, an engraver of great merit, has made a very capital print from this picture.

A landskip with cattle and figures, by Cuyp, its companion. The sun-shine, for which this master is so famous, is particularly fine in this picture.

Venus and Adonis with Cupids, by Van Baelen, in a landskip about the same size as the above, by Velvet Brughell, who has introduced dogs, &c. painted with the utmost life and spirit. This is as fine a coloured picture as can possibly be met with.

A landskip about the same size, with a flock of sheep, &c. by Francesco Mille. The composition is fine, and this is one of his richest pictures.

A sea calm with English yachts, by William Vandevelde. The keeping, the figures, and the water, are uncommonly fine in this picture.

A canal with boats on it, and a bridge at the end, with buildings on each side, by Canaletti. This picture, for the fineness of the water, and the justness of the perspective, is allowed to be one of the very finest of this master.

A landskip with figures, fishing, &c. by Zuccharelli, about 2 feet 9 inches wide. This picture from the fineness of the figures, and the uncommon richness of the colouring, has been always deemed at least equal to any thing this great master ever painted.

A holy family, with a little St. John sitting on a lamb, by Scarcellini de Ferrara, after a design of Augustine Caracci; it is a small picture, but the characters and colouring are remarkably sweet in it.

A very masterly sketch of the miraculous cross of St. Antonio de Padua, by Seb. Ricci. This at a little distance, has all the effect of a finish’d picture.

Christ and the two disciples at Emaus, by Elsheimer. The story is finely told, and there is great expression in the figures: this picture is a curiosity, not only from the great scarceness of the works of this master, but there are in it two different candle lights, and a moon light, which have an uncommon, and yet pleasing effect.

The Virgin supporting a dead Christ, by Lubin Baugin, called in France, Le Petit Guide, from his happy manner of imitating the stile of that great master, of which this little picture, among others, is a proof: this was out of the Duke de Tallard’s collection.

A sea monster swimming away with a woman, by Albert Durer, who has engraved a print of the same subject: this is extremely well preserved, and there is a much better keeping observed in it than is usual in pictures of that age.

A camelion with a thistle and flies, most exquisitely painted after the life, by Van Aelst.

A group of various flowers with insects in a glass of water, by a master who has mark’d the picture with

This in point of finishing, is perhaps carried as high as art, colours, and the finest pointed pencils can possibly arrive.

A man sitting smoaking, and other back figures, by David Teniers. This is in his finest stile, both for colouring and expression.

Two men with a little dog going to enter a cottage; a smaller picture by the same master. Mr. Major has engraved a print from this, and call’d it the Friendly Invitation.

There are other smaller pictures, good in their kind, such as the Virgin and Child, by Rottenhammer, highly finished and coloured.

The Virgin and Child with a bird, and a little St. John, by Sebastian Bourdon, richer coloured than common of this master.

An angel drawing an arrow from the side of St. Sebastian, finely coloured by Gerrard Seghers.

The same Gentleman has also a collection of about twelve thousand prints, engraved and etched by the most celebrated masters of the three last centuries, much the greatest part of which are not only in the highest preservation, but also of the finest impressions; and of many of the matters, there are either all, or very near the whole work; they are contained in about 50 large volumes, besides above 60 volumes in sculpture and architecture. The principal part of this collection of prints are engraved and etched by Andrea Mantegna, Marco Antonio Raimondi, Ugo da Carpi, Silvestra and Marco de Ravenna, Julio Bonafoni, Augustino Venetiana, Martinus Rota, Adamo of Mantua, Andrea del Sarto, Parmegiano, Primaticcio, Schidoni, Sisto Badalocchi, Baroccio, Carnillo Procaccino, Michael Angelo Caravaggio, Guercino, Spagnoletto, Paulo Veronese, Palma, Giulio Carpioni, Domenico Canuti, Odoardo Fialetti, Paulo Farinati, Ventura Salembeni, all the Caracci’s, Battista Franco, Guido Rheni, Simone Cantarini, Elisabetta Sirani, Claude Lorrain, Gaspar Poussin, Crescentio, Horizonti, Francesco Bolognese, Paul Brill, Both of Italy, Salvator Rosa, Pietro Testa, Castiglione, Bourgognone, Carlo Maratti, Luca Jordano, Rubens, Vandyck, and others, after him the whole work, Jordaens Rombouts, Cornelius de Wael, Vosterman, Martinus Secu, Albert Durer, Lucas Van Leiden, Hisbin, Geo. Pens, the Visschers, Rembrant near the whole work, Ostade, David Teneirs, Both, Bega, Berchem, Paul Potter, Stoop, Ad. Vandevelde, Bamboccio, Hondius, Fyt, Jean Miele, Molenaer, Hollar, Bloemart, Sebastian Bourdon, Le Brun, La Hyre, Mignard, Della Bella, Callot, Mellan, Spierre, Perelle, Coypel, Pittau, Morin, Edelinck, Masson, Drevet, Nanteuil, and many other excellent masters: also a very considerable collection of original drawings by most of the greatest Italian, and some of the best Flemish and Dutch masters.

Berkley street, Hyde park road; thus called from its being near the Lord Berkley of Stratton’s mansion house.

Bermeeter’s Almshouse, in St. John street Bethnal green, was founded by Mr. Bermeeter, for six poor women, and by him endowed with 30l. per annum.

Bermondsey School, was founded in the year 1718, by Mr. Josiah Bacon, who bequeatheth the sum of 700l. for purchasing land, and erecting a school upon it, which he endowed with 150l. a year, for educating sixty poor children of the parish of St. Mary Bermondsey street, called by corruption Barnaby street. See St. Mary Magdalen’s Bermondsey.

The district of Bermondsey appears in William the Conqueror’s survey to have been a royal manor, in which were twenty five husbandmen, and twenty-three cottagers. Maitland.

Bernard’s or Barnard’s Inn, situated on the south side of Holborn, near Fetter lane, was anciently called Mackworth’s Inn, and is one of the Inns of Chancery. This Society consists of a Principal and twelve Antients, besides other members, who are obliged to be in commons a fortnight in two terms, and ten days in each of the other two, on the penalty of forfeiting five shillings a week.

Berry court. 1. Liquorpond street.†. 2. Love lane, Wood street, Cheapside.† 3. St. Mary Ax.

Bethlem, or Bedlam Hospital, originally a priory, was founded in the year 1247, by Simon Fitzroy, of London, or according to Stow, Simon Fitz Mary, Sheriff of London, on the east side of the place now called the quarters of Moorfields, and of the burial ground of Old Bethlem. This priory consisted of brothers and sisters, who wore a star upon their copes and mantles, probably in commemoration of the star that guided the wisemen in their visit to our Saviour at his birth; and these monks were to receive the Bishop and the Canons of Bethlehem, whenever they should come to England. But King Henry VIII. giving this house to the city of London, it was converted into an hospital for the cure of lunatics; but not without a certain weekly expence, paid either by their relations or the parish.

This hospital being, however, in an incommodious situation, and becoming both ruinous, and unable to receive and entertain the great number of distracted persons, whose friends sued for their admission, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council, granted the Governors a piece of ground along the south side of the lower quarters of Moorfields, upon which the foundation of the present hospital was laid in April 1675, and notwithstanding its being the most magnificent edifice of its kind in Europe, was only fifteen months in erecting, as appears by an inscription on its front.

This noble edifice is 540 feet in length, and 40 feet in breadth, and is finely situated. The middle and ends, which project a little, are adorned with pilasters, entablatures, foliages, and other ornaments, and rising above the rest of the building, have each a flat roof with a handsome balustrade of stone, in the center of which is an elegant turret. That in the middle is adorned with a clock, and three dials, a gilt ball, and a vane on the top.

This building upon the whole shews more the good intentions, than the good taste of the founders of this charity, the style of architecture being very improper for an hospital for madmen. Simplicity and regularity was all that should have been aimed at, and if there was a necessity for pilasters, those of the Tuscan order would have suited the design much better than Corinthian; but without regarding the application, the middle pavilion, which is elegant, should have certainly been larger and more principal. The entrance is grand, and the figures on the piers, one representing raving, and the other melancholy madness, are finely expressed, and do honour to their author Mr. Cibber, father of the late Poet Laureat. Since the first erecting of this edifice, two wings have been added, in order to contain a number of incurables. And before this fabric is a handsome wall 680 feet in length, which, like the structure itself, is built with brick and stone. It incloses a range of gardens neatly adorned with walks of broad stone, grass plats and trees, wherein those of the lunatics who are well enough to be suffered to go about, are allowed to walk there and enjoy the benefit of the fresh air. In the middle of this wall is a large pair of fine iron gates, and by them a small entrance for the admission of those who come out of curiosity to visit this hospital; on each side towards the top of these gates are placed the two statues, in the manner represented in the print.

The expence of erecting this edifice, besides that of building the wings, amounted to near 17,000l.

The inside chiefly consists of two galleries one over the other, which cross the wings, and are 193 yards long, thirteen feet high, and sixteen feet broad; without including the cells for the patients, which are twelve feet deep. These galleries are divided in the middle by two iron grates, by which means all the men are placed at one end of the house, and all the women at the other, and in each gallery servants lie, to be ready at hand on all occasions. In the middle of the upper gallery is a large spacious room, where the Governors, and, in the lower, where the weekly Committee meet, and the Physician prescribes for the patients; besides, above there are convenient apartments for the steward of the house, the porter, matron, nurse and servants; and below stairs all necessary offices for keeping and dressing the provisions; for washing, and other necessary offices belonging to so large a family; and also a bathing place for the patients, so contrived, as to be an hot or cold bath, as occasion requires.

There are generally above 200 lunatics maintained in this hospital, each of whom has a small room or cell to himself, where he is locked up on nights, and in this room is a place for a bed; but where the patients are so senseless as not to be fit to make use of one, they are every day provided with fresh clean straw. Those are judged the fittest objects that are raving and furious, and yet capable of cure.

As to the method of admitting them, they are brought on Saturday, when the Committee meets, to be viewed by them and the Physician; and if a person be judged a fit object, a warrant is drawn up for his admission by the clerk of the hospital, to be signed by the President, or, in his absence, by the Treasurer. Those who put in the patient are obliged to give a bond, signed by two persons, to take him away when discharged, or if he dies, to be at the expence of burying him. Their friends, who put them in, are obliged to provide them with cloaths; but there is a wardrobe from whence they are supplied, when neglected by those friends: for though, when raving and furious, they suffer but little from the weather; yet in their intervals, they frequently contract other distempers, care of which is also taken, as well as of their lunacy, whether those distempers be external or internal; and though formerly every patient paid 5s. a week, they now not only pay nothing, but after their recovery and leaving the hospital, are furnished with medicines to prevent a relapse. When a patient is cured, he is called before a Committee of the Governors and Physicians, who examine him, and being found fit to be discharged, the Physician gives a certificate to that purpose, and then the steward of the house takes care to have him delivered to his friends.

The hospitals of Bethlem and Bridewell being made one corporation, they have the same President, Treasurer, Governors, Clerk, Physician, Surgeon, and Apothecary; yet each hospital has its proper steward and inferior officers, and a particular committee is chosen out of the Governors for each. Out of that appointed for Bethlem, there are six who meet every Saturday, to examine the steward’s account of expences for the preceding week, and to sign it after it is approved; they also view the provisions, examine the patients that are to be received or discharged, and have the direction of other affairs belonging to this hospital.

Bethnal Green, a village near Mile End, and lately one of the hamlets of Stepney, from which parish it was separated by an act of parliament in the 13th year of his present Majesty’s reign. The old Roman way from London led thro’ this hamlet, and joining the military way from the west, passed with it to Lea Ferry at Old Ford. Within this hamlet, Bonner, Bishop of London, had a palace, and the Trinity House have a hospital for twenty-eight decayed seamen, who have been masters of ships or pilots, or their widows. See Trinity Hospital.

The church built pursuant to the above act, is placed at the north east corner of Hare street, Spitalfields, and is a neat, commodious edifice, built with brick coped and coined with freestone; and the tower, which is not high, is of the same materials. It is remarkable, that though the village of itself is small, yet as part of Spitalfields anciently belonged to that hamlet, this parish contains 1800 houses, and the parishioners are computed to amount to above 15000.

Bevis Marks, St. Mary Ax. Here was once a very large house with several courts and gardens, which belonging to the Abbot of Bury in Suffolk, was called Bury’s Marks, corruptly Bevis Marks. This house being demolished, the ground has many houses built upon it, and among the rest a synagogue of Jews. Stow.

Bevis Marks School, was founded in the in the year 1731, by Isaac de Costa Villa Real, a Portuguese Jew, who also endowed it with the annual sum of 80l. for cloathing and educating twenty Jew girls of his nation.

Billingsgate, a great fish market in Thames street; which is only a large water-gate, port, or harbour, for small vessels, laden with fish, oranges, lemons, Spanish onions, and in summer, with Kentish cherries; here the Gravesend boats wait to take in their fare; and here the woodmongers and coalmen meet at about eight or nine o’clock every morning, this being a kind of exchange for those concerned in the coal trade.

Billingsgate is however most famous for being the greatest fish market in England, and the only port for fish in London, which has occasioned several acts of parliament, to prevent the fishmongers monopolizing that considerable article of food. By these acts it is made lawful for any person to buy fish in that market, and to sell it again in any other market or place in the city of London, or elsewhere, by retail; but no fishmonger, or other person, is to engross or buy more than shall be for his own sale or use, on pain of forfeiting 20l. for every such offence, and no fishmonger, or other person, is to expose to sale any fish at Billingsgate by retail that was before bought in the same market.

Billingsgate ward, is situated on the side of the Thames, and is therefore bounded by that river on the south; as it is on the east by Tower street ward, on the west by Bridge ward, and on the north by Langbourn ward. It contains a part of Thames street, and Little Eastcheap, which lie in the same direction, and those leading from one of those streets to the other, as St. Mary at hill, Love lane, Botolph’s lane, Pudding lane, and on the other side of Little Eastcheap, a considerable part of Rood lane, and Philpot lane. The most remarkable buildings are the churches of St. Mary at hill, St. Margaret Pattens, and St. George, Botolph lane; Butchers hall, and the King’s weigh-house.

This ward is governed by an Alderman, and ten Common Council men, one of whom is Deputy, eleven constables, six scavengers, fourteen wardmote inquestmen, and a beadle.

The jurymen returned by the wardmote inquest, serve as jurors in the courts of Guildhall in the month of May.

Billiter lane, Leadenhall street. It was anciently called Belzeter’s lane, from its first builder and owner, which was at length corrupted to Billiter lane. Maitland.

Birchin lane, Cornhill. Stow observes that it was anciently called Birchover’s lane, from Birchover, the first builder and owner, and that this name was corrupted to Birchin lane.

Bird’s street, 1. Brook’s street.† 2. Green Bank, Wapping.† 3. Orchard street.†

Bird Cage alley. 1. Anchor street.* 2. In the Borough.* 3. St. Margaret’s Hill, Southwark.*

Bishop’s court. 1. Ailsbury street. 2. Brook’s street. 3. Chancery lane, from the Bishop of Chichester’s house near that place. 4. Coleman street. 5. Durham yard in the Strand. 6. Fore street. 7. Gray’s Inn lane. 8. Little Old Bailey. 9. Lothbury. 10. Old Soho. 11. Old street.

Bishopsgate, is situated 1440 feet north west of Aldgate. Mr. Strype imagines that it was erected by Erkenwald Bishop of London about the year 675, a conjecture founded only on the effigies of two Bishops wherewith this gate was formerly adorned, and from which it might take its name: but it is probable that it was not erected so early, since Mr. Stow could not find it mentioned before the year 1210.

In the reign of King Henry III. the Anseatic company residing in this city, in consideration of several privileges granted them, obliged themselves and their successors, not only to keep this gate in repair, but to defend it, whenever it should be attacked by an enemy: and by this company it was rebuilt in a beautiful manner in the year 1479. On the south side over the gateway, was placed a stone image of a Bishop with a mitre on his head; he had a long beard, eyes sunk, and an old mortified face, and was supposed to present St. Erkenwald. On the north side was another Bishop with a smooth face, reaching out his right hand to bestow his benedictions, and holding a crosier in his left, who is thought to have been the courtly Bishop William the Norman: this last was accompanied by two other figures in stone, supposed to be King Alfred, and his son Eldred Earl of Mercia. The present structure is a plain neat edifice erected in 1735. On the top over the gateway, which is very lofty, is the city arms supported by dragons; and on each side of the gate is a postern for the convenience of foot passengers.

Bishopsgate street extends from Cornhill, thro’ the gate, to Norton Falgate, that part between the gate and Cornhill being called Bishopsgate street within, and all without the gate, Bishopsgate street without.

Bishopsgate ward, which takes its name from the gate, that stands almost in its center, is bounded on the south by Langbourn ward; on the west by Broad street ward; and Moorfields on the east by Aldgate ward, Portsoken ward, and part of the Tower liberty; and on the north by Shoreditch: thus this ward extends from the bars near Spital square, on both sides of the way, (including near half of Houndsditch) as far as the pump at the corner of St. Martin’s Outwich; and winds by the west corner of Leadenhall, down Gracechurch street, to the south west corner of Fenchurch street. The principal places in this ward are, the parish churches of St. Botolph without Bishopsgate, St. Ethelburga’s, and Great St. Helen’s; Leatherfellers hall, Gresham college, and the London Workhouse.

This ward is under the government of an Alderman and two Deputies, one within, and the other without the gate, six Common Council men, thirteen wardmote inquest men, seven constables, seven scavengers, and a beadle. The jurymen returned by the inquest men are to serve in the several courts of Guildhall in the month of December

Black Boy alley. 1. Chick lane.* 2. Barnaby street.* 3. Blackman street, Southwark.* 4. Fore street, Lambeth.* 5. In the Minories.* 6. Near Peter’s Hill, Thames street.* 7. Rosemary lane.* 8. Saltpetre Bank.*

Black Dog alley. 1. Bowling alley, Dean’s yard, Westminster.* 2. East Smithfield.*

Black Friars, near Fleet ditch, was a monastery of that order, otherwise called Preaching Friars. This monastery was erected by Robert Kilwarby Archbishop of Canterbury, about the year 1276, who also built the church of Black Friars, to which King Edward I. and Queen Eleanor were great benefactors, and even the reputed founders. This church was large and richly furnished with ornaments. In the monastery several parliaments were held, and the Emperor Charles V. who was also King of Spain, lodged there in the year 1522. There the ancient Kings had their records and charters kept, as well as at the Tower: and, tho’ this monastery was dissolved with the rest by King Henry VIII. yet in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Black Friars was inhabited by many noblemen and gentlemen; parliaments still continued to be often held there, and being a place of refuge, malefactors frequently took shelter in its liberties, and the inhabitants were free from arrests: but these pernicious privileges have been many years lost; and as it has been lately made part of the ward of Faringdon within, the shopkeepers and tradesmen are obliged to be free of the city; two Common Council men are annually elected out of it, and added to the number that used to serve this ward.

Black Friars bridge. The Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council of this city, have been empowered by a late act, to build a bridge cross the Thames from Black Friars to the opposite side in the county of Surrey; to fill up the channel of Bridewell dock, or Fleet ditch, and to purchase and pull down such buildings as shall be thought proper for forming and widening streets and avenues. This bridge is to have a free and open passage thro’ the arches of 750 feet at least within the banks of the river. A sufficient number of glass lamps are to be fixed on proper parts of it, to burn from sun setting to sun rising; and a number of watchmen placed for the security of passengers.

For the erecting and support of this work, when finished, they are to receive as toll, any sum they shall direct, not exceeding the following rates:

For every coach, chariot, berlin, chaise, chair or calash, drawn by six horses, 2s.

For every waggon, wain, cart or car, drawn by four or more horses, or other beasts, 1s.

Upon the credit of these tolls, the Lord Mayor and Common Council are impowered to raise any sums of money not exceeding 30,000l. in one year, till they have raised 160,000l. in the whole, which they are not to exceed.

Black Friars school, was founded by Peter Joy, Esq; in the year 1716, who also endowed it with 160l. 17s. 3d. per annum, for cloathing and instructing forty boys and thirty girls, in reading, writing and accounts. This school he left in trust with the Governors of Sion College, who allow the master 40l. and the mistress 30l. a year.

Blackheath, a large plain on the south of Greenwich, on which Watt Tyler, the Kentish rebel, mustered 100,000 men. In this place, which is admired for the fineness of its situation, and its excellent air, is a noble house built by Sir Gregory Page, Bart. a view of which we have here given.

This is a very magnificent edifice, built in the modern taste, consisting of a basement state and attick story. The wings contain the offices and stables, which are joined to the body of the house by a colonade. It stands in the midst of a park with a large piece of water before it. The back front has an Ionic portico of four columns, but having no pediment does not make so agreeable a figure as could be wished.

This is one of the finest seats in England belonging to a private gentleman; it is adorned with many capital pictures, a list whereof is here given; and the gardens, park, and country around, render it a most delightful seat: yet this fine edifice was begun, raised, and covered, in the space of eleven months. At a small distance is the College erected by Sir John Morden, Bart. for a particular account of which see Morden College.

Black Horse court. 1. Aldersgate street.* 2. In the Minories. 3. Old Change.* 4. White street, Southwark.* 5. Windmill street.*

Black Horse yard. 1. Green street, Leicester fields.* 2. In the Curtain, Hog lane, Shoreditch.* 3. Gravel lane, Houndsditch.* 4. Gray’s Inn lane.* 5. Harrow alley, Petticoat lane.* 6. Nightingale lane.* 7. Pickax street.* 8. Poor Jewry lane, within Aldgate.* 9. Tottenham Court road.* 10. Townditch, Little Britain.* 11. Tower hill.* 12. Whitechapel.* 13. Great Windmill street.*

Black Jack alley. 1. East Smithfield.* 2. Great Windmill street.* 3. Old street.*

Black Lion yard. 1. Bedfordbury.* 2. Stony lane, Petticoat lane.* 3. Whitechapel.*

Black Mary’s hole, a few stragling houses near the Cold Bath fields, in the road to Hampstead. It took its name from a Blackmoor woman called Mary, who about thirty years ago lived by the side of the road near the stile in a small circular hut built with stones.

Blackmoor’s alley. 1. Farthing fields.* 2. Green bank, Wapping.* 3. St. Martin’s lane, Charing cross.*

Black Raven alley. 1. Coleman street.* 2. Leadenhall street.* 3. Near Fishmongers hall in Thames street.*

Black Raven court. 1. Chiswell street.* 2. Golden lane.* 3. Grub street. 4. Leadenhall street.* 5. St. Olave’s street.* 6. Seething lane.*

Black Rod, an officer of the King’s palace, so called from his carrying a black staff, is the chief of the four Gentlemen Ushers of the presence chamber, and attends the House of Lords every day during the sitting of Parliament, where his seat is within the bar. When the King sends to order the House of Commons to attend him in that house, he always sends the Black Rod. This gentleman is also employed in fitting up the House of Lords before the meeting of the Parliament; he introduces the Lords into that house, and to his custody delinquents are committed by the Lords. This gentleman is likewise Usher to the order of the Garter.

Blacksmiths, an ancient guild, or fraternity, which was continued by prescription, till the Blacksmiths were incorporated by letters patent granted by Queen Elizabeth, and confirmed by King James I.

This company is governed by a Master, three Wardens, and twenty-one Assistants, and has a livery of 220 members, whose fine is 8l. They have a pleasant hall on Lambeth hill, for the dispatch of their affairs.

Black Spread Eagle alley. 1. Blackman street.* 2. Kent street.* 3. Turnmill street.*

Black Swan alley. 1. Golden lane.* 2. Corbet’s court, Eagle street.* 3. Holiwell street.* 4. Little Carter lane.* 5. Opposite Garlick Hill, Thames street.* 6. London wall.* 7. St. Margaret’s hill.*

Black Swan court. 1. Bartholomew lane.* 2. Canon street.* 3. Golden lane.* 4. In the Maze.* 5. Market street.* 6. St. Paul’s Church yard.* 7. Shore ditch.* 8. Great Tower street.*

Black Swan yard. 1. Brown’s lane.* 2. In the Borough.* 3. Newington Butts.* 4. Ropemakers fields, Limehouse.*

Blackwell hall, Basinghall street, a very ancient edifice, employed for several ages as a market for all kinds of woollen cloth brought to London. This edifice was originally called Basing’s Haugh or Hall; probably from the family of the Basings, who first built the house, and whose arms were placed in many parts of it, painted on the walls, and cut in the stone-work. From this family, who were owners also of the adjoining ground. Stow supposes, that “the ward itself took its name, as Coleman street ward of Coleman, and Faringdon ward, of William and Nicholas Faringdon.” Of this family the same author observes, that Solomon Basing was Mayor in the year 1216; and that to Adam Basing his son, who was also afterwards Mayor, King Henry III. gave the advowson of the church at Basing Hall, and several liberties and privileges.

In the 36th year of Edward III. this house was inhabited by Mr. Thomas Bakewell, whence it obtained the name of Bakewell Hall; a name that was afterwards corrupted to that of Blackwell Hall. At length it was purchased, with the garden and appurtenances, of King Richard II. by the city, for the sum of 50l. and from that time has been chiefly employed as a weekly market for all the broad and narrow woollen cloths brought out of the country.

This house at length growing ruinous, was rebuilt in the form of a handsome store house in the year 1558, at the charge of 2500l. but an hundred and eight years after was destroyed by the fire of London, and again rebuilt in 1672; this last is the present edifice.

It is a square building with a court in the middle surrounded with warehouses, and has two spacious entrances for carriages, one from Basinghall street, and the other opposite to it by Guildhall. This last is the principal front, and has the door-case adorned with two columns of the Doric order, with their entablature, and a pediment, in which are the King’s arms, and a little lower the city arms enriched with Cupids, &c.

In this edifice are the Devonshire, Gloucester, Worcester, Kentish, Medley, Spanish, and Blanket Halls, in which each piece of cloth pays one penny for pitching, and a half-penny per week resting; and the profits, which are said to amount to about 1100l. per annum, are applied towards the support of Christ’s Hospital, the Governors whereof have the whole management of these warehouses. There are several statutes relating to the regulation of this market, with respect to the factors, and others concerned.

Blechingly, a small parliamentary borough in Surrey, said to have enjoyed that privilege ever since parliaments had a being, and yet it has no market. The Bailiff, who returns the members, is annually chosen at the Lord of the Mannor’s court. The town, which is five miles from Ryegate, and twenty from London, being situated on a hill, on the side of Holmsdale, affords a fine prospect, as far as Sussex and the South Downs, and from some of the ruins of the castle, which are still visible, tho’ in the midst of a coppice, one may take a view to the west into Hampshire, and to the east into Kent. Here is a free school and an almshouse; but the spire of the church was consumed by lightning and all the bells melted in the year 1606.

Bloomsbury, the district thus named was anciently a village denominated Lomsbury, in which were the King’s stables, till they were destroyed by fire in 1354. Maitland.

Bloomsbury square, Southampton street, Holborn. This square has been lately embellished with many goodhouses, and the grass plats in the middle surrounded with neat iron rails. The north side is entirely taken up with Bedford House, which is elegant, and was the design of Inigo Jones. Besides the body of the house, are two wings, and on each side the proper offices. One of the wings is a magnificent gallery in which are copies of the Cartoons at Hampton Court, as large as the originals, by Sir James Thornhill. Behind the house are extensive gardens, which command a view of the country, and particularly of Highgate and Hampstead.

Blowbladder street, from Cheapside to St. Martin’s le Grand. It obtained its present name from the bladders formerly sold there, when the shambles were in Newgate street.

Blue Anchor alley. 1. Barnaby street. * 2. Brook’s street, near Ratcliff Cross. * 3. Bunhill row. * 4. Cable street. * 5. Green Bank. * 6. Great Minories. * 7. Old street. * 8. Pesthouse row. * 9. Petty France. * 10. Rosemary lane. * 11. St. Catharine’s. * 12. Tooley street. * 13. Tower ditch. * 14. Whitecross street, Cripplegate. *

Blue Anchor court. 1. Butcher row, without Temple Bar. * 2. Coleman street. * 3. Salisbury court, Fleet street.

Blue Anchor yard. 1. Green Bank. * 2. Little Tower hill. * 3. London wall. * 4. Petty France, Westminster. * 5. St. Catharine’s lane. * 6. Rosemary lane. *

Blue Ball court. * 1. Artichoke lane. * 2. Canon street. * 3. Drury lane. * 4. Little Hart street, Covent Garden. * 5. Salisbury court, Fleet street. *

Blue Bear court. 1. Canon street. * 2. Chick lane. * 3. Friday street. * 4. Rosemary lane. *

Blue Gate yard. 1. Carter’s Rents. 2. East Smithfield. 3. Harrow yard, Whitechapel.

Boar’s Head court. 1. In the Borough.* 2. Fleet ditch.* 3. Gracechurch street.* 4. Grub street.*

Boot alley. 1. Abchurch lane.* 2. Grub street, Fore street, Cripplegate.* 3. Kent street, Southwark.* 4. St. James’s street, Westminster.* 5. Upper Ground street, Southwark.*

Borough, a street in the borough of Southwark, extending from London bridge to St. Margaret’s hill.

Borough Court. This is a court of record by prescription, and is held every Monday by the Lord Mayor’s steward, at the hall on St. Margaret’s hill, Southwark, where are tried actions for any sum of money, damage, trespasses, &c. To this court belong three attornies, who are admitted by the steward. Maitland. See St. Margaret’s Hill.

There are also, besides this, three courts leet held in the Borough; for it contains three liberties or manors, viz. the Great Liberty, the Guildable, and the King’s manor, in which are chosen constables, aleconners, &c. and other business is dispatched peculiar to such courts. In this neighbourhood court leets are also kept at Lambeth, Bermondsey, and Rotherhith.

Boss alley. 1. Near Trig stairs, Thames street. 2. St. Mary hill. 3. Shad Thames.

Bosville court, 1. Devonshire street, Theobald’s row.† 2. Carey street, Lincoln’s Inn fields.†

St. Botolph’s Aldersgate, so denominated from St. Botolph, a monk born in Cornwall, is situated at the south east corner of Little Britain, and tho’ the fire in 1666 did not reach this edifice, it from that time fell into decay, and was great part of it rebuilt in 1757. It is a plain brick edifice with a tower supported on a kind of arch work, and crowned with an open turret, and its fane. It is a curacy in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Westminster Abbey; but is subject to the Bishop and Archdeacon of London, to whom it pays procuration.

St. Botolph’s Aldgate, situated on the east side of Houndsditch, fronting the Minories. The old church escaped the fire in 1666, and stood till the year 1741, when it was taken down, and the present edifice finished in 1744. It is built with brick, and is a plain, massy, and yet elegant structure. It consists of a body of a regular shape, and a lofty and well-proportioned steeple, formed of a tower and spire. Its greatest ornament is a bold rustic with which it is strengthened at the corners. This church is a curacy, and the impropriation is held in fee of the Crown. The Curate, besides other considerable advantages, receives 400l. a year by tithes. Newc. Rep. Eccles.

St. Botolph’s Billingsgate, a rectory, the church whereof formerly stood opposite to Botolph lane, in Thames street, in Billingsgate ward; but being destroyed by the fire of London, and not rebuilt, the parish was by act of parliament annexed to St. George’s Botolph lane.

St. Botolph’s Bishopsgate, opposite the north end of Houndsditch. The old church escaping the general conflagration in 1666, at length fell into decay, and the present structure was raised by act of parliament, at the expence of the parish. It is a massy and spacious edifice. The body is well built with brick, and well enlightened, and the roof hid by a handsome balustrade. On the inside the roof is arched, except over the galleries, and two rows of Corinthian columns support both the galleries and arch which extends over the body of the church, and is neatly adorned with fret work, from which hang several handsome gilt branches. The steeple, tho’ heavy, has an air of magnificence. In the center of the front is a large plain arched window, decorated at a distance with pilasters of the Doric order. Over this window is a festoon, and above that an angular pediment; on each side is a door crowned with windows, and over these others of the porthole kind; above these last rises a square tower crowned with a dome, whose base is circular, and surrounded by a balustrade in the same form; by the side of which, on the corners of the tower, are placed urns with flames. From this part rises a series of coupled Corinthian columns, supporting other urns like the former, and over them rises the orgive dome, crowned with a very large vase with flames. The Author of The Critical Review says, that he thinks this steeple more in taste than most about town; and that the parts of which it is composed are simple, beautiful and harmonious. The author of The English Architecture, however, observes, “That the placing of a window in the middle of the street, where the principal door should have been, is an error of the first magnitude. The most unlearned eye must perceive a strange imperfection in this, though without knowing what it is; and there is something in the highest degree disgustful, at being shut out by a dead wall at the proper and natural entrance.” But in justification of the architect, it may be alledged, that this being the east end, he might not be allowed to form a door in the center, where the altar is placed under a noble arch beneath the steeple; and that much greater improprieties than this are daily seen, from the idle custom which has generally prevailed of placing the altar to the east in spight of any inconveniences it may occasion, as in St. Clement’s in the Strand, St. Dunstan’s in Fleet street, and many others. This church is a rectory, the patronage of which is in the Bishop of London. The Rector, besides other considerable advantages, receives about 200l. a year by tithes,

Bourne’s Almshouse, in Kingsland Road, was erected in the year 1734, by the company of Framework-knitters, pursuant to the will of Thomas Bourne, Esq; who bequeathed to that company 1000l. to purchase ground, and erect a building upon it of twelve rooms, for that number of poor freemen or their widows, and endowed this almshouse with 2000l. to be laid out in a purchase of 80l. a year.

Bow, a village in Middlesex, a little to the east of Mile End, also called Stratford le Bow; is named Bow, from the stone arches of its bridge built over the river Lea, by Maud the wife of Henry I. Its church built by Henry II. was a chapel of ease to Stepney; but was lately made parochial.

This village is inhabited by many whitsters and scarlet dyers, and here has lately been set up a large manufactury of porcelain, which is brought to such perfection as to be very little inferior to that of China.

Bow lane. 1. Cheapside, so named from the church of St. Mary le Bow, near the north west end of it. 2. New Gravel lane. 3. Poplar.

Bow street. 1. A very handsome street by Covent Garden. 2. Long Ditch. 3. St. Giles’s Broad street. 4. Sutton street, Hog lane, Soho.

Bowling alley. 1. Cow Cross. 2. Dean’s yard, Westminster. 3. Thames street. 4. Tooley street. 5. Turnmill street. 6. Whitecross street, Cripplegate.

Bowman’s court. 1. Gardiner’s lane, King’s street, Westminster.† 2. Salisbury court, Fleet street.†

Bowyers, or makers of long and cross bows, a company by prescription, but in 1620, tho’ the use of bows and arrows were entirely laid aside, they were incorporated by King James I. by the name of the Master, Wardens, and Society of the mystery of Bowyers of the city of London. They consist entirely of other trades, and are governed by a Master, two Wardens, and twelve Assistants, with thirty Liverymen, who at the time of their admission pay a fine of 8l. Tho’ they had formerly a hall, they have none at present.

Boxhill, near Dorking in Surrey, received its name from the box trees planted on the south side of it, by the Earl of Arundel, in the reign of King Charles I. but the north part is covered with yews. Upon this hill, which extends in a continued chain into Kent, there is a large warren; and as its top affords a most enchanting prospect, it is much frequented by the gentry from Epsom, who come to divert themselves in the labyrinths formed in these delightful groves; and for their accommodation arbours are made, in which refreshments of all sorts are sold. The river Mole runs under the foot of this hill, for a quarter of a mile together.

Boyle’s Lecture, was founded by the Hon. Robert Boyle, who by his last will left an annual salary of 50l. for some learned Divine to preach eight sermons in the year, in proof of the christian religion, against Atheists, Deists, Pagans, and Mahometans, without descending to any controversies that subsist among Christians. These Lectures to be in the first Mondays of the months of January, February, March, April, May, September, October, and November. In such churches as the Trustees should from time to time appoint. This Lecture has been carried on by very learned men, and are now generally preached at Bow church in Cheapside.

Bread street, Cheapside, thus named from a bread market kept there before the fire of London. Maitland.

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LONDON AND ITS ENVIRONS DESCRIBED, VOL. 1 (OF 6) ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at www.gutenberg.org/license.

Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.

1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License.

1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that:

• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect you cause.

Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™

Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.

Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.

The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact

Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.

Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Most people start at our website which has the main PG search facility: www.gutenberg.org.

This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

	Height. Feet Inc.	Breadth. Feet Inc.	Painted by
View of Venice
Ditto, with the Doge marrying the sea	2.	4 6	Canaletti.
Its companion
Time bringing truth to light, a sketch	2 5	3 0	Rubens.
The Alchymist	3 1	4 2	Teniers.
Portrait of Sir John Gage	3 1	2 7	Holbein.
A landskip	2 0	2 4	G. Poussin.
Battle of the Amazons	1 1	1 6	Rottenhammer.
The unjust Steward	2 7	4 6	Quintin Matsys.

Noah’s Ark	1 9	2 10	Velvet Brughel.
St. Catherine	2 6	2 0	Leonardo da Vinci.
Van Trump	2 10	2 4	Francis Hals.
Vulcan, or the element of Fire	4 6	5 9	Bassan.
A picture of horses, its companion	1 8	1 4	Wouverman.
Two insides of churches, small	0 0	0 0	De Neef.
A Dutch woman and her three children	1 9	1 6	Sir Ant. More.
Rembrant painting an old woman	2 10	2 0	by himself.
A courtezan and her gallant	2 4	2 4	Giorgione.
The golden age	2 0	3 2	Velvet Brughel.
Snyders with his wife and child	5 4	4 0	Rubens.
Rebecca bringing presents to Laban	4 6	3 2	De la Hyre.
Boors at cards	2 0	2 0	Teniers.
The element of Earth	4 6	5 9	Jai. Bassan.
Marriage in Cana of Gallilee	4 0	5 0	P. Veronese.
Two landskips	2 0	3 2	G. Poussin.
The genealogy of Christ	3 0	2 3	Albert Durer.
Beggar boys at cards	2 0	1 4	Salvator Rosa.
Herod consulting the wisemen	1 4	2 8	Rembrant.
Marriage of St. Catherine	2 8	3 2	Old Palma.
two fine bas relievos in brass, one Bacchus and Ariadne, the other Ceres teaching Triptolemus the use of the plough			by Soldani

The conception, painted for an altar piece	7 8	7 8	Murillo.
The flight into Egypt, its companion			Ditto.
Vulcan, Venus, Cupid, and sundry	5 6	8 4	Tintoret.
figures, an emblematic subject
Mars and Venus	5 8	4 3	P. Veronese.
Christ among the Doctors	5 2	6 6	L. Giordano.
Duke of Buckingham’s mistress, her	5 8	5 6	by himself.
three children, and a son of Rubens
A landskip	4 10	6 2	Claude.
Leopold’s gallery			Teniers.
Teniers, own gallery, its companion	3 2	4 2	Ditto.

	Height. Feet Inc.	Breadth. Feet Inc.	Painted by
Sampson and Dalilah	5 6	8 3	Vandyke.
St. Cyprian a ¾ length	4 3	3 1½	Ditto.
The three royal children ½ lengths	2 0	3 8	Ditto.
Juno and Ixion	6 0	8 0	Rubens.
Rubens and his mistress	6 8	6 3	Ditto.
Rubens, two figures, fowls and fruit	5 3	8 0	Ditto and Snyders.
Figures by Rubens, a landskip	2 3	3 1	Ditto and Brughel.
David and Abigail	6 2	6 9½	Ditto.
A maid milking a goat	4 10	6 7	Jordans of Antwp.
The good Samaritan	7 0	7 8	Systi Baldelochi.
The return of the prodigal son	7 0	9 0	Chev. Calabreze.
Moses striking the rock	7 0	9 0	Valerio Castello.
The woman taken in adultery	3 8	5 2	Paul Veronese.
Moses and Pharaoh’s daughter	4 4	6 0	Paul Veronese.
A counsellor, his wife and daughter	3 10½	4 9½	Titian.
Peter’s denial of our Saviour	4 2	4 10	M. A. daCaravagio.
A holy family	2 2	1 0	Parmegiano.
Moses striking the rock	3 1	4 10½	Giacomo Bassan.
A landskip with cattle	2 4	3 10½	Ditto.
The angels appearing to the shepherds	4 2	5 5	Bassan.
History of Cupid and Psyche, twelve pieces	1 10	2 2½	Luca Giordano.
Venus, Cupid and Satyrs	1 1½	1 4½	Philippo Lauro.
Venus, Cupid and Satyrs	1 1½	1 4½	Ditto.
A landskip with figures	2 0	1 6	Salvator Rosa.
A landskip with figures	2 0	1 6	Francisco Mola.
Judith and Holofernes	4 4½	3 11	Manfredo.
	3 10½	3 2½	Lewis Carrachi.
A sacrifice	3 2	4 3	Nich. Poussin.
A Venus, Cupid and Satyrs	2 2	1 8	Ditto.
Daphne changed into a laurel	2 2½	1 10	Nich. Poussin.
A landskip with figures	3 0	4 3	Gaspar Poussin.
Architecture and figures	3 9	5 3	Viviano.
Architecture and figures	3 2	4 4½	Ditto.
Joseph and his brethren	3 0	4 2	Paraccini.
Jacob embracing Benjamin	3 0	4 2	Ditto.
A landskip with figures	2 0	2 9	Claude Lorrain.
A landskip with figures	2 6	3 11½	Francisco Mille.
A landskip with figures	1 5	1 10	Ditto.
Three figures ½ lengths	3 10	3 1	after Car. Maratti.
A quarter length	2 9	2 0	Albert Durer.
A battle piece	2 3	3 2	Bourgognone.
A battle piece	2 3	3 2	Ditto.
An holy family	3 0	3 9	Solomini.
Paris and Helena	2 0	3 2½	L’Araise.
The judgment of Solomon, gallery chimney piece	3 9	4 1½	Pompeio.
Hector and Andromache, drawing room chimney piece	3 4	3 6	Imperialis.
Coriolanus, saloon chimney piece	3 9	3 9	Imperialis and Masucci.
Architecture and figures, dressing room chimney piece	4 8	4 0½	Paulo Panini.
Architecture with figures, bedchamber chimney piece	2 5	2 4½	Ditto.
Ditto, yellow bedchamber chimney piece	3 4½	3 3	Ditto.
Ditto, library chimney piece	4 7½	4 0½	after Panini.
Ditto, yellow dressing room, ditto	2 10	3 7½	Harding aft. Panini.
Ditto, red dressing over the chimney piece, ditto	3 6	3 4½	Ditto.
Ditto, store room chimney piece, ditto	2 9½	2 8½	Ditto.
Ditto, over the doors of the red drawing room	1 9	3 3	after P. Panini.
Ditto, over the doors of the red drawing room	1 9	3 3	Harding aft. Panini
Ditto, with figures over the door in the saloon	2 4	3 8	Ditto.
Ditto, ditto	2 4	3 8	Ditto.
A landskip with figures, dining room chimney piece	3 8½	3 8½	Lambert.
A landskip with figures, green dressing room chimney piece	2 10½	3 2½	Ditto.
A landskip with figures, green bedchamber chimney piece	2 4½	2 4½	By
Fruit and flowers, breakfast chimney piece	2 5	2 5	By
Pharaoh’s daughter and Moses	2 3½	1 10½	Chev. Vanderwerff.
Message by the angels to the shepherds	2 2	1 7½	Ditto.
King Zeleucus giving his kingdom to his son	2 4	1 8	Ditto.
Shepherds and shepherdesses dancing	1 10	1 5½	Chev. Vanderwerff.
Hercules between Virtue and Vice	1 11	1 5	Ditto.
Roman Charity	1 11½	1 5	Ditto.
Joseph and Potipher’s wife	1 11	1 5½	Ditto.
Mary Magdalen reading in a grotto	1 11	1 6	Ditto.
Bathsheba bathing	1 10	1 3½	Ditto.
Our Saviour and Mary Magdalen	2 4	1 8½	Ditto.
Venus and Cupid	1 5½	1 0	Ditto.
Chevalier Vanderwerff, his wife and daughter	2 1 0	2 2½	Ditto.
Adam and Eve	1 6	1 0	Peter Vanderwerff.
and Stratonica	1 6	1 0	Ditto.
A landskip with many figures, a fair at Ghen	2 8	3 8	Sir D. Teniers.
Ditto with figures	2 8	3 9½	Ditto.
Fruit and flowers	2 7	2 0	Van Huysan.
Ditto	2 7	2 0	Ditto.
Fruit and flowers	2 0	1 9	Van Huysan.
Ditto	2 0	1 9	Ditto.
Ditto	1 3	1 0	Ditto.
A view of Venice, over the saloon door	2 4	3 8	Harding af. Canaleti.
Ditto, ditto	2 4	3 8	Ditto.
Architecture, over the door in the gallery	2 6	4 0	Ditto after Panini.
Ditto, ditto	2 6	4 0	Ditto.
The golden age	2 1	2 8	Limburg.
The great church at Harlem	2 7	2 3	De Witt.
A landskip with figures	0 7	0 10	Velvet Brughel.
Ditto	0 4½	0 6	Ditto.
A poulterer’s shop	1 5	1 3	Old Meiris.
A fishmonger’s shop	1 5	1 3	Ditto.
A water piece	0 10	1 1	Zagtleven.
An hunting piece	2 2	2 8	Berchem.
An Italian playing on the guitar	1 2	1 0	Brower.
A landskip with figures and cattle	1 10½	2 2½	Wouvermans.
A landskip with figures and cattle	1 6	1 10	Wouvermans.
The holy family	2 3	1 7	Scalchen.
Ditto	2 3	1 7	Ditto.
A woman with a torch	1 0½	0 10½	Ditto.
A schoolmaster	1 2	0 11	Gerard Dowe.
The offering of the kings	1 4	1 0	Polenburgh.
Two small figures, Venus and Adonis	1 3½	1 6½	Young Meiris.
A landskip with cattle	1 7½	2 7	Edema.
A landskip with fowls and a dog	2 0	2 5½	Craddock.

Drawing room	13
Saloon	8
Dressing room	32
Bedchamber	1
Library	1
Dining room	2
Attick story	9
	——
	118 In all

The Project Gutenberg eBook of London and Its Environs Described, vol. 1 (of 6)

LONDON

AND ITS

ENVIRONS

DESCRIBED.

PREFACE.

A

B.

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

January
1	Circumcision
6	Epiphany
25	St. Paul.
30	K. Charles I. Mart.
Feb.
2	Purific. V. Mary
24	St. Matthias
Mar.
25	Lady Day
April
23	St. George
25	St. Mark
26	D. of Cumb. born
May
1	St. Philip & Jac.
29	K. Ch. II. restor.
June
4	Pr. Wales born
11	St. Barnabas
21	Midsummer Day
22	Inaug. K. Geo. II.
24	St. John Baptist
26	K. Geo. II. pro.
29	St. Peter & Paul
July
25	St. James
Aug.
1	Lammas Day
24	St. Bartholomew
Sept.
2	London burnt
21	St. Matthew
29	St. Michael
Oct.
18	St. Luke
22	K. Geo. II. crown.
28	St. Simon & Jude
November
1	All Saints
2	All Souls
4	K. William born
5	Powder Plot
9	Ld. Mayor’s Day
10	K. Geo. II. born
28	Q. Elizabeth’s Ac.
30	Pr. Wales born
December
21	St. Thomas
25	Christmas Day
26	St. Stephen
27	St. John
28	Innocents

The Project Gutenberg eBook of London and Its Environs Described, vol. 1 (of 6)

LONDON AND ITS ENVIRONS DESCRIBED.

PREFACE.

A

B.

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE

LONDON

AND ITS

ENVIRONS

DESCRIBED.