LONDON, a city, metropolis of the United Kingdom, the seat of Government, and the principal port of the empire, forming a city and county (of itself), is situated on the northern bank of the Thames, about sixty miles from its mouth, in 51° 31' (N. Lat.), and 5' (W. Lon.) from the meridian of Greenwich observatory, 395 miles (S.) from Edinburgh, and 338 (S.B.) from Dublin, and contains, including some of the adjoining parishes, 1,225,694 inhabitants, according to the census of 1821; of this number, 56,874 are in the city of London Within the Walls, 69,260 in the city of London Without the Walls (not including any part of the borough of Southwark, in which there are 84,098 inhabitants), and 182,085 in the city and liberties of Westminster; the increase of population during the twenty years preceding the last census was 360,849, and since that period it has been augmenting with greater celerity.

The earliest notice that we find of London, which is now the most important, if not the most extensive, city in the world, is in Julius Caesar's account of his two exploratory expeditions from Gaul to Britain, styled his Commentaries. Its situation identifies it with the Civitas Trinobantum, or city of the Trinobantes, by which people it was probably selected on account of its peculiarly fine situation: on the north, it was protected by an eminence, a forest, and a morass; on the west, by the deep ravine called the Fleet; on the east, by another ravine, since called Wai-brook; and on the south was the Thames, connected with extensive marshes, sheltered by the Kent and Surrey hills; thus combining, with other advantages, all the natural defences that could be desired by an uncivilized people. At a very early period of its history it was considered peculiarly eligible as a seat of commerce, the proximity to the sea being sufficient to afford the full advantage of the tide, at the same time that the distance was great enough to furnish a perfect security against any sudden atack from the naval force of an enemy. The name Londinium is, according to the most prevailing opinion, a Latinization of the British compound Lyndin, the town on the lake; the vast sestuary formed by the Thames here, at that time, being a peculiarity attaching to no other British town; whilst Lun-dun, the town in the grove, and Llhong-din, the city of ships, the next two most probable etymons, are liable to insuperable objections, the former name expressing a feature said by Csesar to have been common to all British towns, which he describes as fortified woods j and the latter being inapplicable before the place became known as a naval station. The Saxons called this city Lundenceaster, which affix, as well as those of wick, and byrg or byrig, occasionally used by them in place of it, appears to have been dropped at the time of the Norman Conquest.

The earliest event recorded of London is its destruction by Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni, in the reign of Nero, in the year 60. Its progress since the time of Caesar had been so rapid, that Tacitus describes it, at this period, as "the chief residence of merchants, and the great mart of trade; " though not then dignified, like Camalodunum (Maldon, or Colchester), and Verulamium (St. Alban's), with the name of a colony, nor, as it appears, fortified in the Roman manner. A few years afterwards, the Romans made it a permanent station, subject to the authority of their own laws. It is agreed to have been surrounded by a wall in the fourth century; and, according to Dr. Stukeley,the Roman city occupied an oblong square, extending in length from Ludgate to Wai-brook, and in breadth, from Maiden-lane, Lad-lane, and Cateaton-street, to the Thames. This space was between the river Fleta, on the west,, and the, stream called Wai-brook, on the east, and comprised about one-fifth of the area subsequently surrounded by a wall: the height of which, when perfect, was twentytwo feet, throughout its whole circuit: it commenced at the Palatine tower, proceeded in a straight line along the eminence of Ludgate-hill, as far as Newgate, and was then suddenly carrie'd eastward, to a spot a little beyond Aldersgate, running thence straight in a northerly direction, almost as far as Cripplegate, from which spot it returned, in a direct easterly course, as far as Bishopsgate, where a large remnant of the wall, called " London Wall," remained standing until the late removal of Bethlehem hospital. From Bishopsgate the wall assumed a gentle curvature to the Tower, over the site of which it originally passed, and probably finisheb in a castellum at this, as it did at the western extremity. Another wall skirted the river, and ran -the whole length of Thames-street. Strong towers and bastions, of Roman masonry, to the number of fifteen, increased the strength of these fortifications; to which, in after times, was added a broad deep ditch; and at Barbican stood the Specula, or Watch-tower, so named. Four gates afforded entrance from the great military roads which then intersected South Britain; the Praetorian way, improved from the British Watling-street, passed under one of those gates, at the spot where Aldersgate formerly stood; whence it proceeded along that street to Billingsgate, and thence continued, on the opposite bank of the Thames, to its southern termination at Dovor. The Ermin-street led from a trajectus, or ferry, which crossed from Stony-street, Southwark, to Dowgate, and passing by Bishopsgate, pursued the course of the present road northwards, to Ad Fines (Braughing). Another road passed through Newgate, by Hoiborn and Oxford-street, to Ad Ponies (Staines), from which there was a branch road, in a north-easterly direction, by Portpool-lane, Clerkenwell, Old-street, and Hackney, to Dwroleiton, the modern Layton in Essex. Bishopsgate, Moorgate, Ludgate, &c., were added as new roads were formed. Temple-bar is modern, not having been built until after the great fire, in 1670. Roman antiquities, consisting of foundations of houses, temples, walls, and streets; tesselated pavements, sepulchral monuments, urns, glasses, coins, articles of dress, and numerous other remains of the same period, have been discovered on the site of the present metropolis. The London stone, in Cannon-street, is considered, by most antiquaries, as part of a Roman milliary, and the central point from which the great Roman roads diverged. London continued to improve under the Romans, and had greatly increased in importance before the year 211, when we find it recorded as "a great and wealthy city, illustrious for the vast number of merchants who resorted to it, for its widely-extended commerce, and for the abundance of every species of commodity it could supply." Antoninus, at this period, makes seven of his fifteen itinera terminate here, and its early importance is further evinced by its having been a municipium, or free city, and the residence of the Vicars of Britain, under the Roman Emperors. In the year 359, no less than eight hundred vessels are said to have been employed in the exportation from London of corn alone, and its commerce is stated to have increased proportionally, until the end of the fourth century. On the abandonment of Britain by the Romans, a new and fierce race succeeded to their dominion. The warlike Saxons, under their leaders Hengist and Horsa, landed, in 448, at Upwines fleet (the present Ebbs-flete), in the Isle of Thanet. The Britons, however, remained masters of London at least nine years after that event; for, being defeated in 457, at Creccanford, now Crayford, they evacuated Kent, and fled to the capital. On Hengist's death, in 498, having then been for some time in the possession of the Saxons, it was retaken by Ambrosius, and retained by the Britons during a [considerable part of the following century. In the year 604, London seems to have recovered from the ravages of the invaders, so that Bede terms it " a princely mart town; " and its chief magistrate was called portgrave, or portreeve.

London was the chief town of the Saxon kingdom of Essex, and, on the conversion of the East Saxons to Christianity, it became an episcopal see. Sabert was the first Christian king of Essex; and his maternal uncle, Ethelbert, King of Kent, founded here, about the commencement of the seventh century, a church, dedicated to St. Paul, of which Mellitus was consecrated the first bishop. In the years 764, 788, and 801, the capital suffered severely from fires, as it did also in 849, on an invasion of the Danes, who entered the Thames with two hundred and fifty ships, plundered and burnt the city, and massacred the inhabitants. In a similar attempt with an increased naval force, two years afterwards, they were completely defeated by Ethelwulph and his son Ethelbald; yet London suffered more from these two invasions than it had ever done before. Under Egbert, London, though not the seat of government, was advancing fast in importance, a wittenagemote having been held in 833, to consult on the means of repelling the Danes. Alfred restored this city, and constituted London the CAPITAL of all England, but had the mortification, in 893, to see it almost entirely reduced to ashes by an accidental fire, which raged with the more uncontrollable fury as the houses were, at that time, almost wholly built of wood. It was a second time rebuilt, and, for its better government, divided by Alfred into wards and precincts; that monarch also instituted the office of sheriff in London, as in other parts of the kingdom. In 925, King Athelstan had a royal palace here, and appointed eight mints for the coinage of money. The. city increased in importance during the succeeding reigns, until the year 1015, when Canute the Dane, with his fleet, sailed up the Thames and besieged it; but he was repulsed, and after having blockaded it and made several unsuccessful attempts, a compromise was agreed upon between the two Icings, Edmund Ironside and Canute, whereby London was conceded to the latter. The comparative opulence 'of the city, at this time, is indicated by its having paid a seventh part of the tax levied on the whole nation by that monarch,, the total amount of which was £72,000. In a wittenagemote at Oxford, to determine the succession after the death of Canute, we find the "pilots of London" summoned thereto, meaning its magistrates, or leading men. Edward the Confessor granted to London the court of Hustings, and by his charter, in which the city is called Tray-novant, gave it pre-eminence over all his cities; he moreover confirmed its right of manumission of slaves who had resided there a year and a day, from which is thought to be derived the custom of calling the city " The King's Free Chamber."

On the successful invasion of England by William the Norman, the magistrates of London, in conjunction with the prelates and nobility, invited him to accept the title of king, and he was crowned at Westminster. In return, that prince granted to the city two charters, confirming the whole of the privileges it had enjoyed under the Saxon kings, and adding several others. The government of London, at this time, appears to have been vested in the bishop and a portreeve. In the year 1077, another fire having destroyed a great part of the city, with St. Paul's cathedral, Maurice, Bishop of London, laid the foundation of a new church, on a more extended scale than the former. That part of the city which had been destroyed by the last-mentioned fire was soon rebuilt more magnificently than before; and the White Tower, now forming part of the Tower of London, was erected by William I., in 1078. Domesday-book contains no notice of London at this time, owing, it is supposed, to a separate survey having been made of it, which is now lost, but mentions, as part of the suburbs, a vineyard in Holborn, in the possession of the crown, and ten acres of land, near Bishopsgate, belonging to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's: the latter is the present manor of Norton-Falgate; andjboth are now situated within the limits of the metropolis. In 1090, a tremendous hurricane overthrew about six hundred houses, with several churches, and damaged the Tower of London. This fortress was repaired by William Rufus, and strengthened by additional works: the same king, in 1097, founded Westminster hall. Henry I., as a reward for the ready submission of the men of London to his usurped authority, granted to the city the first charter in which its privileges were circumstantially detailed; amongst them were the perpetual shrievalty of Middlesex, which enabled the citizens to unite the power of the two shrievalties of the city of London and of the county of Middlesex, in freemen of their own nomination. The standard of weights and measures was granted to them about the same time; and, by the same king's charter, it was further stipulated, that the city of London should have all its ancient privileges, as well by land as by water. In the first year of the reign of Stephen, another fire, beginning near London stone, consumed all the houses eastward to Aldgate, and westward to St. Paul's, together with London bridge, which was then of wood: this occasioned, in 1192, an order to the mayor and aldermen, that " all houses thereafter erected in the city, or liberties thereof, should be built of stone, with party walls of the same, and covered either with slate or tiles, to prevent the recurrence of fires, which had been occasioned by the houses having been built of wood, and thatched with straw, or reeds j" but this order does not appear to have been extensively carried into effect.

Of the state of London at this early period, an admirable picture is afforded in the description by Fitz- Stephen, a contemporary monk, wherein he informs us that the city was strongly walled and fortified; that it abounded in churches, convents, and public buildings; carried on an extensive commerce with distant parts of the world; and had a large disposable military force. It was supplied with water from numerous wells, among which were Clerkenwell, Clement's well, Holywell, and others. Moorfields was a great lake, the Magna Nora, of the Conqueror: all the suburbs are described as being filled with the gardens and summerhouses of the citizens, and watered with streams of pure water, which turned the numerous mills employed in grinding corn for the subsistence of the inhabitants. The chief improvement during the reign of Henry II. was the foundation, in 1156, of a new London bridge, of stone, which was completed in 1209. The year 1189 is memorable in the metropolitan annals for the cruel massacre of the Jews, which took place at the coronation of Richard I. In the year 1210, King John empowered " the barons of London," as they are styled, to choose their mayor annually, or continue him from year to year at pleasure; but in 1252 a by-law was made, ordaining that no one should be mayor longer than one year. In 1212 occurred a tremendous fire, wherein, according to Stowe, as many as three thousand persons perished. In 1214, the Town ditch, surrounding the city walls, was commenced, and, after several hundred persons had been employed upon it for upwards of two years, was completed in 1218. In 1215, the citizens taking part with the barons against King John,, opened their gates to Louis the Dauphin and his army. In the same year happened a great fire, which began in Southwark, and extended to London bridge, where it destroyed three thousand persons, who were prevented from escape by another fire breaking out at the Middlesex end of the bridge.

The increase of the metropolis in buildings, from the reign of Henry I. to the period last named, had kept pace with the extension of its municipal privileges. In this interval, of little more than a century, twelve large monasteries were founded in London and its suburbs, including the magnificent establishments of the Knights Templars and the Knights Hospitallers, the superb priory of the Holy Trinity, in Aldgate, whose prior was an alderman of London, and others of nearly equal magnitude. Several additional gates had also been erected, in consequence of the formation of new roads; as well as magnificent mansions built by the wealthy citizens, such as Gerard's Hall, Basing Hall, the Ledyn Porch, &c. and various parochial churches rebuilt on a grander and more substantial scale. In consequence of the extensive foundations above mentioned, and the increased number of private houses, in the reign of Henry III., the supply of water furnished from Old-bourne (Holborn), Wal-brook, and Ley-bourne, was found insufficient, and a new supply was obtained from the springs in the village of Tyburn; and, in ,1285, a conduit in Cheapside was first supplied with this water, by leaden pipes. The fee-farm of Queen-hythe had, previously to this period, been purchased from Richard, Earl of Cornwall, by the corporation, subject to an annual quit-rent of £50, thus affording additional facilities for the increased commerce of the metropolis. In 1258, a dreadful famine was experienced in London, in consequence of the high price of corn, and twenty thousand persons are said to have died of hunger. In 1262, a considerable part of West-cheap was reduced to ashes by a fire wilfully caused by some unknown incendiaries. In 1266, the Earl of Gloucester, in rebellion against Henry III., entered the city with an army, and built bulwarks, cut trenches, &c.

In 1296, in the reign of Edward I., the wards of London, first formed by Alfred, but uncertain as to their number, were extended to twenty-four, with each a presiding alderman, and common council-men appointed to be chosen annually, as at present, for the several precincts; a common seal was also granted to the city. In 1320, a fish-market was first established. In 1325, the Bishop of Exeter, high treasurer to Richard II., and custos of the city, on the king's departure from London to the West of England, was seized by the citizens, and beheaded at the Cross in Cheapside; they afterwards seized the constable of the Tower, and took possession of that fortress. Edward III., who began his reign on the 25th of January, 1327, granted that the mayor should be one of the judges of Oyer and Terminer, or gaol delivery of Newgate; that the citizens should not be compelled to go to war out of the city; and, moreover, that the liberties and franchises of the city should not, after this time, on any pretext, be taken into the king's hands; he also granted that the mayor should be the only escheator within the city. In 1338, the Serjeants of the mayor and sheriffs of London were empowered to bear maces of silver gilt, with the king's arms engraven on them, and in 1340, tolls were imposed for paving the streets. In 1348 occurred a great plague; and in the course of the same year, Sir Walter Manny founded the Charter House, near Smithfield, with Pardon churchyard adjoining, to be a place of burial for such as died of it. In 1354, the aldermeu of London, having been hitherto changed yearly, it was ordained that they should not be removed without some special cause. In 1356, the opulence of the citizens was strikingly displayed by Henry Piccard, the mayor, feasting at one entertainment the Kings of England, France,. Cyprus, and Scotland, with other great personages. In 1380 occurred Wat Tyler's rebellion, when William Walworth, mayor, was knighted in the field, together with several aldermen, for their gallant behaviour on the occasion; and the dagger is said to have been added to the city arms on account of Walworth having killed, with that weapon, the rebel Tyler, in Smithfield. In 1406, London was afflicted with another great plague, which swept away upwards of thirty thousand people. In 1410, Stocks' markethouse was erected, on the site of the present mansionhouse. In 1416, Sir Henry Barton, mayor, ordained that lanterns, with lights, should be hung out on winter evenings, between Hallowtide and Candlemas; and in the following year this custom was general. In 1417, a now guildhall was built on the site of the present edifice, in lieu of a mean cottage, formerly occupied as such, in Aldermanbury; and in 1419 Leadenhall wa erected, as a public granary. The supply of water being found insufficient, in 1443, pipes were laid from Paddington. A few years afterwards the city ditch was cleansed, and the walls repaired. In 1449, the Kentish rebel, Jack Cade, made his entry into London.

About the year 1460 occurs the earliest notice of the use of brick in the buildings of London; this material was first made in Moorfields, and afterwards gradually superseded wood, and became generally used in erecting dwelling-houses. New conduits, and cisterns for water, were also constructed. In 1469, the Tower of London being delivered to the mayor and his 'brethren, the aldermen, they set at liberty King Henry VI., who was confined there. Under Richard III. and Henry VII. various additions were made to the royal palace 'at Westminster; and the latter monarch, besides founding his magnificent chapel at the abbey adjoining, also rebuilt Baynard's Castle, in Thames-street. In the thirteenth year of his reign, several gardens in Finsbury were destroyed, and formed into a field for archers, whence the origin of the present Artillery Company. During this reign also the river Fleet was made navigable, Hounsditch was arched over, and many less works of utility, or ornament, completed. Henry VIII. continued the improvements of the metropolis; and during his reign the police was better regulated, many nuisances were removed, the streets and avenues were mended and paved, and various regulations were carried into effect for supplying the metropolis with provisions sufficient to answer the demands of its increasing population. The greatest alteration made in the aspect of the city, during this reign, was effected by the dissolution of religious houses, of which there had been upwards of twenty, founded between the reign of Edward I. and the period of the dissolution, besides those before mentioned: this event took place in the year 1535, and rendered London entirely a commercial city. The religious establishments, usually occupying large plots of ground, now gave way to the erection of schools, hospitals, manufactories, noblemen s mansions, and other edifices. There were fifty-four larger monasteries in London at. the dissolution, exclusively of minor establishments. Two royal palaces, St. James' and Bridewell, were among the splendid buildings erected by Henry VIII. , and to the same monarch is to be attributed a considerable part of the buildings in New Palace Yard, Westminster, and at Whitehall, particularly the cock-pit, and the fine gateway by Holbein, which formerly stood at the latter palace, as also the laying out of St. James' park. Until the Reformation, the government of Westminster had been vested solely in its abbot, but, in the settlement of that great revolution, it was placed, first in the hands of a bishop, and subsequently in those of the Dean of Westminster, in whom it still, in some degree, continues. Near this period, notwithstanding there had been a recent revival of commerce, and that, the metropolis had been enlarged, it is stated that there were not above four merchant vessels exceeding one hundred and twenty tons' burden in the river Thames; and afterwards it is observed, in a letter from a London merchant to Sir William Cecil, that there was " not a city in Europe, having the occupying that London had, that was so slenderly provided with ships;" yet a spirit of enterprise was then very general among our merchants. The events which chiefly characterise the reign of Edward VI., as regards London, are, the conversion of Bridewell palace into an hospital, the refounding of that of St. Thomas, and the completion of Christ's and St. Bartholomew's hospitals, which had been begun by his father; all which establishments still remain, and will hereafter be described. By an act, in the seventh year of this king's reign, for the general regulation of taverns and public-houses, it was directed; that there should be only forty in the city and liberties of London, and three in Westminster. In this reign also Southwark was annexed to London, arid constituted a twenty-sixth ward, under the name of " Bridge ward Without."

The commencement of Elizabeth's reign was distinguished by the building of the Royal Exchange, and various other works of public utility. In the year 1580, from the great increase of the city, that queen prohibited the erection of any new buildings within three miles of the city gates, and ordained that only one family should inhabit each house. Another proclamation, in 1583, commanded that no new building should be erected within three miles of London and Westminster, that one dwelling-house should not be converted into two or more, and that the commons within three miles of London should not be enclosed. At this period, notwithstanding the danger that was anticipated by increasing the size of the metropolis, it appears, from contemporary plans, that the greater part of London was contained within the walls, and even in those narrow limits there were numerous gardens, upon the sites of which have since been formed lanes, courts, and alleys.' In the whole of the space now constituting the parishes of St. Margaret, Westminster; St. Martin in the Fields; St. Paul, Covent Garden; St. Anne, Soho; St. Giles in the Fields; St. George, Bloomsburyj and even including the extensive parish of St. Mary le bone, there were not at that time two thousand houses. All the north side of the city, continuing through Clerkenwell, as far as Shoreditch church, was very thinly scattered with dwellings; the whole of Spitalfields, Goodman's fields, Bethnalgreen, and Stepney and Limehouse fields, were, what their names import, open spaces of ground, having here and there groups of cottages and gardens: and on the Surrey side of the river, with the exception of the borough of Southwark, Bermondsey, and part of Lambeth parish next to the Thames, the entire space was devoid of houses. In 1594, the Thames water was first conveyed into houses, by means of an engine of a pyramidical form, erected at. Broken wharf, to which succeeded the "London-bridge Water-Worksj" and, in 1613, that great public benefit, the New River, which was projected and executed by Sir Hugh Myddelton, was brought to its head at Clerkeirwell, from Amwell in Hertfordshire. In 1616, the sides of the principal streets, which had before been laid with pebbles, were paved with broad stones and flags.

Building continued to advance after the death of Elizabeth} and we find that most part of Spitalfields and about three hundred and twenty acres to the south and south-east of it, were then covered with houses. James I., alarmed at this rapid growth of the metropolis, issued his proclamation, in 1618, against the erection of new buildings. The suburbs, notwithstanding, had greatly increased in 1640, especially to the westward, in the parishes of St. Giles in the Fields, and St. Paul, Covent Garden. In 1643, Cheapside cross was demolished, by the authority of the common council, as a relic of superstition, thus increasing unintentionally the width and accommodation of that great central thoroughfare. Another attempt was made, during the Protectorate, in 1656, to prevent the enlargement of the metropolis; for which purpose, all houses built since the year 1620, within ten miles of it, were taxed, and fines were imposed on those who raised new buildings within that distance. About 1661, a great many streets, on the site of St. James' parish, were built, or finished, particularly St. James' street, Pali- Mall, and Piccadilly; other streets were ordered to be widened; and candles, or lights in lanterns, were to be hung out by the occupier of every hpuse fronting the street, between Michaelmas and Lady-day, from nightfall until nine o'clock, when it was presumed that people retired to bed. The dreadful plague, in 1665, put a temporary stop to the increase of the metropolis. This infection was generally thought to have been brought from Holland, about the close of the year 1664, and made its appearance in the neighbourhood of Drurylane: sixty-eight thousand five hundred and ninety-six persons are calculated to have perished in the course of the year 1665, during which, London was so far deserted by its inhabitants, that grass grew in the principal streets.

"The great fire of London," the most terrible conflagration that the metropolis ever suffered, succeeded " the Plague year," as it is emphatically styled; it broke out on Sunday, the 2nd of September, 1666, at the house of a baker in Pudding-lane, Thames-street. The houses being then for the most part of wood, with projecting stories, the uppermost of which, from the narrowness of the streets, almost met each other, and a strong easterly wind blowing at the time, the fire spread rapidly and continued raging until Thursday, when it was nearly extinguished, having destroyed thirteen thousand two hundred houses, and eighty-nine churches, exclusively of the venerable Cathedral of St. Paul, the greater part of the corporation halls, London bridge, and other public edifices, covering a plot of four hundred and thirty-six acres of ground with ruins. The value of the property involved in this destruction was calculated at upwards of £10,000,000. To perpetuate the remembrance of this melancholy event, " The Monument," on Fish-street-hill, was erected, by order of parliament: it was commenced in 1671, and finished in 1677, from a design by Sir Christopher Wren, and is composed wholly of Portland stone. The column, rising from a pedestal forty feet high, and twenty-eight square at the base, is two hundred and two feet in height from the pavement; it is fluted, and of the Doric ctrder; within is a staircase of black marble, leading to the summit. Above the capital of the column is a balcony of iron, encompassing a meta thirty-two feet high, supporting a blazing urn of brass gilt. On three sides of the pedestal are inscriptions, and on the fourth an emblematical representation, commemorative of the object of its erection. In rebuilding the city, many improvements were effected; the streets, which were before so narrow that, according to Sir William Davenant's facetious remark, " they seemed to have been contrived in the days of wheelbarrows," were widened; many conduits and other obstructions were removed; and the buildings in general were constructed on a more substantial and regular plan. An increased number of houses, amounting to nearly four thousand, was added, by building on the sites of the gardens belonging to the halls and merchants'residences 5 and although the noble plans of Wren and Evelyn, for rebuilding the metropolis, were rejected, it arose, on the whole, with increased splendour. In 1670, an act was passed for widening the streets, and for restoring the navigation of the Fleet ditch. An order in council, issued in 1674, prohibited the building of new houses. Many houses in Southwark having been destroyed by an extensive fire, in 1676, an act was passed for rebuilding them of brick, instead of wood.

In 1685, the population in Spitalfields and St. Giles' was much increased by the settlement of French Protestant manufacturers, who had left their native country in consequence of the revocation of the edict of Nantes; and the same year, the western suburbs increasing, two new parishes were formed, namely, those of St. Anne, Soho, and St. James, both which were previously parts of the parish of St. Martin in the Fields. In 1689, the district called the Seven Dials was built on a spot called Cock and Pye Fields. In consequence of the great increase of the commerce and shipping of London, the suburbs to the east of the Tower were become so populous in 1604, that a new parish was constituted, by the name of St. John, Wapping. Soho-square and Golden- square were built at the close of this century. At this time, also, that useful institution called the Penny Post had its origin, a proof of the enlargement of the capital; and the number of hackney coaches, which, in Cromwell's time had been limited to three hundred, had increased to nine hundred, exclusively of two hundred sedan chairs. A few years afterwards, in the reign of Queen Anne, fifty new churches were erected in the metropolis and its vicinity. In 1722, the Chelsea Water- Works Company was established, for supplying the, city of Westminster and the western suburbs with water. In a few years afterwards, Hanover-square, Cavendishsquare, and the streets adjacent; Bedford-row, Red-Lionsquare, Hatton Garden, &c., were built. The streets from Leicester-square and St. Martin's-lane to the Haymarket and Soho, and thence nearly to Knightsbridge, were finished in the reign of George II. In 1729, the north side of Oxford-street was partly built, and many streets near it were completed. In 1730, the hamlet of Spitalfields became so populous, in consequence of the prosperity of the silk manufacture, as to make it necessary to form it into a distinct parish, which received the name of Christ Church. About the same period the parishes of St. George in the East, St. Anne, Limehouse, and St. Matthew, Bethnal-green, were separated from Stepney, and the parish of St, Luke was formed out of that of St. Giles, in Farringdon ward Without.

The improvements in the construction of the buildings, and in the local regulations of the metropolis, during the period last described, and principally in the reign of George III., were as follows. About the year 17 60, most of the city gates, were taken down.- In 1762, an act was passed to remove the shop-signs, which, projecting from almost every house into the middle of the street, materially obstructed the light and air; and at the same time the water-spouts, which projected in like manner, were taken down; by this act also, the names of the streets were ordered to be affixed at the corners of each. In the building of dwelling-houses great improvement, both as regarded safety and uniformity of appearance, was effected, by the Building Act. In 1768, commissioners were appointed by act of parliament for paving, cleansing, lighting, and watching the streets, and for regulating the stands of hackney coaches. In 1774, an act was passed for placing firecocks in the water-pipes, with conspicuous notices of their distances and situations, and for keeping fireengines and ladders in every parish. About 1795, in pursuance of an act of parliament authorising a lottery for the purpose, called "The City Lottery," Snowhill, and the western side of Temple bar, were materially widened and improved. During this period also, several new companies were established for supplying the metropolis with water, and subsequently for lighting the streets, shops, &c., with gas.

London is eminently fortunate in being situated on rising ground, and on a river of ample extent, which, flowing through the town, is agitated twice in twenty-four hours, by a tide which ascends fifteen miles above it. The mean breadth of the Thames here is about four hundred yards, and is crossed by five magnificent stone bridges, besides a sixth of cast-iron: the river, by its winding in this part of its course, greatly contributes, not only to the embellishment, but to the healthful ventilation, of the metropolis. Occupying a gentle slope on the north side of the river, which extends from east to west in a kind of amphitheatre, together with a level tract on the southern bank, it is surrounded on every side, for nearly twenty miles, by thickly-scattered villages and seats. The streets are regularly paved, having a central carriage way, and a foot-path on each side; the pavement of the former is composed of small square blocks of Scotch granite, and the latter is laid with large flags; some of the wider streets in the western part of the metropolis are Macadamized. The foot-paths are in general broad, particularly those of the principal thoroughfares, and have a regular curb-stone, raised some inches above the carriage way, which latter has a slight convexity in. the middle, to allow the water to pass off into channels on each side. Underneath are large vaulted sewers, communicating with every house by smaller ones, and with every street by convenient openings and gratings, to carry off to the river all impurities that can be conveyed in that manner. All mud and rubbish accumulating on the surface of the streets are taken away by scavengers employed for that purpose. Nearly all the streets and principal shops are lighted with gas, supplied by several incorporated companies. Almost the whole of the houses, those of ancient date excepted, are constructed of brick; the more modern and larger edifices being built of stone, or stuccoed to resemble it. Excellent water is plentifully conveyed from the Thames and the New River reservoirs to almost every house; spring water is obtained from pumps, erected in various parts of the town.

Strictly speaking, London is still confined within its ancient bounds, and the limits of the corporate jurisdiction of the city; but as a continuity of buildings has connected it with Westminster, Southwark, and all the neighbouring villages and hamlets, the name is, in common usage, given to them all collectively, their respective proper names being no more than sub-divisions of one great metropolis. In this general view, therefore, London may be said to consist of several divisions, viz.:

"The City," properly so called, comprehends the most ancient and central part of London, and is almost exclusively occupied by shops, warehouses, and public offices devoted to business. The East End of the Town includes Wapping,Shadwell,Ratcliffe-highway,&c., extending from Tower hill, eastward, to the East India Docks; the inhabitants of this large district being in general connected with the shipping interests, and consisting of shipwrights, ship-owners, and captains of vessels, merchants, sailors, shop keepers, and others, who are supported by the business of the port. This division of London has, within the last thirty years, assumed an importance unknown to preceding ages, and vast commercial docks and warehouses have been here constructed. The West End is the most modern and elegant part of London: it is inhabited by the nobility and gentry, and is the seat of Government and of the Court, as well as the centre of fashion; and consists principally of handsome squares and streets; it may be said to extend westward from the meridian of Charing Cross. Southwark, which lies on the south bank of the Thames, comprehends five parishes, connected with others by extensive ranges of houses. Its population chiefly consists of merchants, traders, and manufacturers. It had formerly only one main street, called the Borough High-street, extending from London bridge towards Newington, but the increase of buildings has since added numerous others) stretching in various directions, and has formed it into a town, severa1 miles in extent.

That part of the metropolis lying on the northwest, and which may be considered as the latest enlargement, and the most elegant, as well as the most systematic in its arrangement of squares and streets, comprehends an immense mass of new buildings between Holborn and Somers-town, and in the parishes of St. Mary-le-bone and Paddington. Besides which, the villages of Chelsea, Knightsbridge, Paddington, Camden-town, Pentonville, Islington, Mile-End, Limehouse, Rotherhithe, Bermondsey, Newington, Camberwell, Lambeth, &c., united, from the contiguity of their buildings, may be considered as appendages to this immense capital. Thus regarded, the extent of London, from west to east, along the banks of the Thames, or, from the upper end of Knightsbridge to the lower end of Poplar, is seven miles and a half, and its breadth from north to south, or from Islington to Kennington, is about five miles and a half; its circumference is full thirty miles, hence it may be fairly estimated, that the buildings of this metropolis cover at least twenty square miles, extending in length seven miles. This space contains between eight thousand and nine thousand streets and smaller avenues, more than seventy squares, and one hundred and seventy thousand houses, besides an immense number of public buildings. The town, in the direction of east and west, is traversed by two principal ranges of streets, which may be termed the great southern and northern lines, forming a communication from one end to the other. The most southern of them, for the greater part of its course, runs within a quarter of a mile of the Thames; it commences at Knightsbridge, and is continued, under successive names, to the Tower, and thence by Ratcliffe-highway to the extremity of Shadwell. The northern line commences on the west at Tyburn, and is continued to Whitechapel, and Mile- End, and thence may be said to extend as far as Stratford- le-Bow, a course of nearly eight miles. The streets running north and south, which connect the abovementioned lines, are comparatively short, as are also those from the southern line to the river. Those from the northern line to the New-road are longer; but, with the exception of Tottenham-Court-road, and its continuation to Camden-town, St. John's street, to the extremity of Islington, and Bishopsgate-street, Shoreditch, and some others, are all of-moderate length. The longest single street in the metropolis is Oxford-street, the length of which is two thousand three hundred yards; the Commercial-road, extending from the back of Whitechapel church to the East India Docks, is more than double that length, but its buildings are not yet entirely continuous. Portland-place is the widest street in London, and at the same time the most magnificent: the one which ranks next to it, for breadth and the varied elegance of its buildings, is the newly-formed Regent-street, as continued from Portland-place, by the Quadrant and Waterloo-place, to St." James' Park.

The environs are greatly enhanced in beauty by a chain of hills to the north of the' town, forming a second amphitheatre, entirely enclosing the first, of which Hampstead, Highgate, and Muswell hills, are the most prominent features. On the east and west -are extensive plains, stretching twenty miles, in each . direction, along the banks of the Thames, and forming a most fertile, populous, and interesting valley; those which lie eastward of the town feeding numerous herds of cattle, and those 'westward being chiefly employed in the production of vegetables for the supply of the London market. That part of the metropolis which is situated south of the Thames occupies a flat surface, bounded by a landscape beautifully varied from west to east by the heights of Richmond, Wimbledon, Epsom, Norwood, and Blackheath, and terminating in the horizon with Leith hill, Box hill, the Reigate hills, the Wrotham hills, and Shooter's hill. On every side the approaches are spacious and kept in admirable order, and, like the town, lighted at night with gas, and well watched and patrolled. Country houses of opulent merchants and tradesmen, or the mansions of the nobility, standing detached and surrounded by plantations, or arranged together in successive handsome rows, are every where to be seen, either on the sides, or in the vicinity, of these roads, together with numerous villages, some of which imitate the commercial activity of the metropolis.

The increase of London since the commencement of the present century has exceeded, if possible, that of the last in celerity and extent. It is visible on all sides, but perhaps more especially so on the western and northern, where the buildings in the parishes of Paddington, St. Mary-le-bone, Bloomsbury, and St. Pancras, have been amazingly extended, by the formation of an incredible number of new streets, squares, and places, for the most part after elegant designs. In the same quarter of the town also, the Regent's park has been laid out, and surrounded with stately ranges of brick buildings, stuccoed so as to resemble stone. A great number of excellent residences has been lately completed on the space behind Gower-street, formerly called the Long Fields, and these again are adjoined eastward by the new church of St. Pancras, and the elegant streets in its neighbourhood, together with a continued mass of building, extending along the south side of the Newroad, and the City-road, as far as Old-street. On the Southwark side of the Thames is Newington, with the streets adjacent to it, connecting Camberwell with Southwark; while Kennington, Brixton, Clapham, and Batter sea-fields, have numerous, extensive, and continually- increasing, ranges of building. Proceeding along the outskirts, towards the east, we perceive the village of Islington to have joined London on one side, St. Pancras on the other, and to have stretched itself over the White Conduit fields (formerly celebrated amongst our early places of amusement) to the hamlet of Holloway, and through that link to Highgate and Hornsey. In the parishes of Shoreditch, Hackney, Stratford-le- Bow, &c., the extent of buildings has every where immensely increased; and at the direct eastern extremity of London are the East and West India, the London, and the St. Katherine's, docks. On viewing the surface of the parishes of Rotherhithe, Bermondsey, Walworth, Newington, Camberwell, and Lambeth, on the south side of London, much ground is yet occupied as fields or gardens; these parishes may be said, however, to form an immense connected town in many places, and are again joined to Deptford and Greenwich, to the east; and Peckham, Stockwell, Clapham, Battersea, &c., to the south and south-west. As evidence of the great extent of building mentioned, it is conjectured that, within the last fifty years, sixty thousand houses, at least, have been erected in London and its neighbourhood; and that these afford habitations for nearly three hundred thousand additional persons.

The improvements at the west end of the town include the widening of the Strand, &c.; the new and elegant buildings on the site of Carlton House and gardens; the laying-out of St. James' Park, and various alterations and buildings in the interior, and at the entrances to Hyde Park; the immense mass of new streets and mansions on the north side of Pimlico, and various additions to the buildings of the Regent's Park and its neighbourhood, as well as on the intermediate space connecting Westminster with St. Mary-le-bone, formed by the fine line of Regentstreet, and the various branch streets and places leading from it. The Strand Improvements extend to the whole neighbourhood, between the King's mews and St. Martin's lane, and beyond to the north boundary of Chandos-street, reaching westward to the Strand, and having its eastern termination beyond the late Exeter 'Change. To correspond with the beautiful edifices of the Union Club-house, and the College of Physicians at Pall-Mali (East), there is to be an elegant opposite range of buildings, consisting of a row of public offices, to form a new metropolitan police station, instead of the present inconvenient one at Bow-street, and which will extend in a line with St. Martin's church: the cemetery of the latter will be railed in, and adjoined by the vicarage-house and parochial schools, and the whole, with the noble portico of St. Martin's church, will be thrown open from Pall-Mali: the north side, where was the Royal Riding-house, is to be occupied by a new National Gallery and Royal Academy, and the south side of this quadrangle to lay open to Charing Cross. The grand line of street is to be from West to East, by Pall-Mall, passing the front of the National Gallery, and is to enter the Strand facing Hungerford-street, the Strand being widened as far as the New church, to a road-way of sixty feet. Another wide carriage way is to run from the new line of street into Leicester-square, through Hemming's row; and there is to be a second communication between Castle-court and Bedford-street} as well as a fine new street continued over the site of the late English Opera-house, in a line with Waterloo-place and bridge, to meet Great Charlotte-street, Bloomsbury. The open spaces of ground contiguous to St. Martin's church, &c., will be formed into squares. It is calculated that nearly two millions of money are necessary to carry these several improvements into effect. The alterations on the site of Carlton House and gardens consist in the erection of a corresponding side, or completion of the square begun by Waterloo-place, and will form a commodious communication between Regent- street and St. James' Park.

The latest improvements in building, in the vicinity of Whitehall, include the entire renovation of the front of Whitehall chapel, and Mr. Soane's erection opposite for the Council-office, Board of Trade, &c.; the latter exhibits a long row of stone columns, with an enriched entablature and parapet, possessing considerable elegance, but justly found fault with as being too low, and wanting a balancing end on the north, for which there is no space but by destroying the fine line of street of Whitehall. Richmond-terrace is an elegant row of first-rate mansions, built on the site of the late Richmond House. Belgrave-square and Wilton-crescent, erected on that part of Chelsea called the Five Fields, are both exceedingly elegant: the former contains four symmetrical rows of first-rate houses, with spacious isolated villas at the angles, the whole being partly stuccoed and partly of stone, ornamented in the Corinthian order. Before the houses in the crescent, which are also first-rate in size and appearance, there is a handsome plantation, communicating right and left with the square: a foot and carriage road have been completed from Knightsbridge to the King's road, for the convenience of the occupants of these new buildings, which are mostly inhabited by the nobility and gentry. Eatoa-square, of an oblong form, adjoins the preceding, and contains buildings of nearly equal splendour, together with a new, spacious, and handsome church at its east end. Of these improvements, effected at the expense of Earl Grosvenor, Belgrave-square alone is reckoned to have cost half a million of money.

To particularise the public buildings included in the above-mentioned improvements would far exceed the limits of this article; but their number and consequence may be inferred from the circumstance that no less than fifty new churches have been erected, by the commissioners appointed under the late act of parliament, all having districts allotted to them, many of which already contain a vast and daily increasing population. So numerous are the improvements con stantly being projected and carried into effect, that scarcely a month passes in which there is not brought forward some plan of elegant embellishment, of public or private utility, or of civil or commercial advantage. In size, population, and wealth; in the extent, grandeur, and number of its religious edifices, its public establishments, its charitable institutions, its commercial docks, " and its bridges; in the elegance of its squares, and the commodiousness of its habitations, the superiority of the English metropolis over that of every other country is manifest.

ROYAL PALACES AND HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

St. James' is the only royal palace in the metropolis now in a habitable state. It is an ancient building, and though, from the irregularity of its parts, it's appearance is not imposing, yet, from its great extent, and the number of fine apartments it comprises, it is said to be the best adapted for royal parade of any tn Europe. Carlton House, the splendid residence of hrs late Majesty George IV., when Prince of Wales, has been recently demolished for the purpose of effecting the " Park Improvements;" and on the site of Buckingham House, the palace of the late Queen Charlotte, a new royal residence is now being erected, by Mr. Nash, to be called St. George's palace; this is of great extent, and, when completed, will consist of a centre and large wings projecting from it at right angles, forming, with the principal entrance, which is a detached marble gateway of great cost and splendour, a spacious and magnificent quadrangle. The Lords' and Commons' houses of parliament occupy parts of the old palace of Westminster, which, though possessing. a certain degree of splendour, are chiefly venerable for their age and the purposes to which they are appropriated. The House of Lords is a large oblong room, formerly the Court of Requests, and was fitted up for its present purpose on the union with Ireland, when the fine tapestry of the old House of Lords, representing the defeat of the Spanish Armada, was removed hither, and the apartment was otherwise handsomely and appropriately decorated; at the upper end of the room is the throne, which has been renovated in a style of great mag- , nificence; a new entrance has lately been added, with a superb staircase and gallery by Mr. Soane. The House of Commons was originally the chapel of St. Stephen, out of which it has been formed chiefly by raising a floor above the pavement, and adding an inner roof, considerably below the ancient one. On removing the wainscot, when this room was lately enlarged, great part of the ancient decorations were discovered: they are of extreme beauty, but were again closed up. In its present state the House of Commons is a large plain apartment, of which the Speaker's chair, with its appen: dages, forms the chief decoration: around it are galleries, supported by slender iron columns with gilt capitals, into one of which, namely, that at the lower end, over the bar of the house, strangers are admitted to hear the debates. The house is wainscoted to the ceiling; and the benches for the members rise in regular gradation behind each other.

THE PARKS, SQUARES, &c.

St. James' Park, so called from the palace of the same name, contains about two hundred acres, the central part being laid out in a pleasing manner, and varied with water, shrubberies, and intersecting gravel walks, and the sides adorned with several avenues of stately trees. The eastern extremity of the park is occupied by the Horse Guards, the Treasury, and other government offices, which have a noble appearance; the ground plot of the entire park is an oblong, and nearly two miles in circuit. The King's foot guards, with a fine band of music, parade every day, between ten and eleven o'clock, opposite the park front of the Horse Guards. The Green Park is a triangular piece of ground, lying south of the western part of Piccadilly, and adjoining St. James' Park and the gardens of Buckingham House. On the north side of it is a large basin, with a promenade round it, near which is the Ranger's house, embowered in a fine plantation, which adds greatly to the beauty of the prospect. Hyde Park, which extends from the western extremity of the metropolis to the walls of Kensington Gardens, contains about four hundred acres. It is a spot of great rural beauty, the drives round it forming one of the chief amusements of the gay and fashionable. The Serpentine river, which adorns the lower part of it, is a large bending sheet of water. Near the Piccadilly corner of Hyde Park stands a colossal bronze statue fo Achilles, erected in honour of the Duke of Wellington, on a pedestal of granite. The entrances to this park have been greatly improved within the last few years; at the Piccadilly entrance a handsome screen of the Ionic order, consisting of three arches, united by an open colonnade, with two side arches, has been erected; facing it is a new and magnificent arched gateway, (in imitation of the arch of Severus at Rome, the architecture from the temple of Jupiter Stator, in the same city,) leading into the gardens belonging to the King's palace in St. James'Park. Kensington Gardens are beautiful and extensive pleasure grounds attached to the palace at Kensington, and were formerly part of Hyde Park; they are open to all well-dressed people, and the promenade in them forms one of the most delightful and fashionable amusements of the metropolis during the months of summer. The Regent's Park is a newly-formed park, on the site of what was formerly Mary-le-bone fields, containing about four hundred and fifty acres. For the magnificence of the buildings by which it is surrounded, and the picturesque style in which it is laid out, this park indisputably excels the others, and it will do so in a still greater degree as the trees with which it is planted approach maturity.

The residences of the nobility, though formerly scattered all over the town, and more especially along the banks of the Thames, from the Temple to Whitehall, have long been removed, almost exclusively to the western portion of it. The largest and most elegant of them are, Apsley House, the residence of the Duke of Wellington; Devonshire House, the residence of the Duke of Devonshire; and Burlington House, that of Lord Cavendish; all in Piccadilly; Cleveland House, the Marquis of Stafford's; Earl Spencer's, St. James' Place; Lord Grenville's, in the Green Park; Marlborough House, Pali- Mall, the residence of Prince Leopold; Northumberland House, Charing-Cross, that of the Duke of Northumberland; the Marquis of Lansdowne's, in Berkeleysquare; Chesterfield House, the Earl of Chesterfield's, in May Fair; and Uxbridge House, Burlington-gardens, that of the Marquis of Anglesey. Great numbers of the nobility and gentry, who have not separate detached mansions like those above mentioned; have spacious and, in many instances, superb residences in the grand squares. The principal of these are, Grosvenor, Portman, Berkeley, St. James', Hanover, Manchester, Cavendish, Bedford, Russell, Bloomsbury, Montagu, Bryanston, and Leicester Squares, and Lincoln's- Inn-Fields; all which contain large and elegant houses. They may be noticed, according to their respective architectural merits, in the following order:

Grosvenor Square has a finely-planted area of six acres, surrounded by magnificent houses. It derives its name from having been erected at the expense of Sir Richard Grosvenor, Bart., and constitutes part of the present Earl Grosvenor's immense estates in this vicinity. In the centre is a fine gilt equestrian statue of George I., placed there in 1726. Portman Square, finished in 1784, ranks next to the preceding. Its planted area is laid out with great taste and richness, and the houses are of the first order of domestic architecture. Montagu House, which stands beyond the north-west angle, forms an elegant addition to the whole, and is remarkable for having been the residence of the literary and talented Mrs. Montagu. Russell Square is likewise surrounded by elegant buildings, and has in the centre a perfect miniature landscape garden, laid out with every regard to taste and variety. It is adorned with a finely-executed statue of the late Duke of Bedford, in bronze, by Westmacott, Jun. Rtzroy Square, if finished in accordance with the two sides already built, would, from the elegance of its buildings and the materials of which they are constructed, probably form the most elegant square in the metropolis. The houses are fronted with stone, and are in the best taste of those excellent architects the Adams's. Cavendish, Bedford, and Manchester Squares, are all surrounded by buildings of a uniform and handsome appearance, the residences of persons of the higher ranks, each comprising a beautiful planted area. In the first, which was planned so long ago as 1715, is a gilt equestrian statue of the conqueror at Culloden, William, Duke of Cumberland. St. James' Square is small, but inhabited by some of the principal nobility. At Norfolk House, in this square, George HI. was born. In the centre is a fine equestrian bronze statue of King William III. Bloomsbury Square is chiefly remarkable for the fine statue of that distinguished statesman, Charles James Fox, which is of colossal size, and of bronze. The figure is in a sitting posture, in the habit of a Roman senator, and is placed on the north side, facing an elegant street, which leads up to the statue of the Duke of Bedford, in Russell-square. Berkeley Square has on its south side the noble mansion of Lansdowne House, half enveloped in fine gardens and plantations. Leicester Square contains a gilt equestrian statue of George I., and formerly possessed a degree of fashionable attraction which it has now lost, having at that time included Leicester and Saville Houses, the former having been the residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales, father of George III.: and the latter, that of the celebrated Sir George Saville. The largest of the squares near this quarter of the town is Lincoln s-Inn-Square, commonly called Lincoln'S'Inn-Fields. The whole of its western side is composed of the masterly erections of Inigo Jones, amongst which is the fine mansion formerly called Lindsey, and afterwards Ancaster House. On the eastern side is seen the beautiful range of law chambers called Stone Buildings, which overlooks the gardens of Lincoln's Inn. On the south side is Surgeons' Hall, a handsome new erection; and on the north side the elegant house of Mr. Soane, the architect. This square was once inhabited by the first nobility, at the time that Newcastle House, one of the largest mansions which it comprises, was the residence of the Duke of Newcastle, Prime Minister to George II. The centre of the square contains the most spacious and finely-planted area of any square in the metropolis.

Queen-square, Holborn; Golden-square, Piccadilly; Red Lion-square; Soho-square: and in the northeastern part of the town, Finsbtiry-square, Finsburycircus, and numerous others, though not in the very first style of architecture, are all spacious and ornamental. It may be observed, that the squares west of Tottenham-Court-road are chiefly occupied by the nobility and gentry; whilst those east of that line are for the most part the residence of merchants and professional men.

Portland Place was, some years ago, almost the only street that, in point of width, length, and the uniform grandeur and elegance of its buildings, would have been worthy of especial notice. But the construction of the new line of street extending northwards from the site of Carlton House, under the names of Waterloo Place, the Quadrant, and Regent-street, and communicating with Portland-place by means of Langham-place, forms a new era in our domestic architecture; and for vast length, width, and uniform elegance, this immense range of buildings, as a whole, is not] exceeded by any in Europe. Carlton-terrace, now being built on the site of Carlton House, promises, when completed, to vie in elegance with the noble avenue last named; and eastward of the fine street called Pali-Mall, an opening has been formed, to obtain a vista for the noble portico of St. Martin's church. Beyond this church, on the north side of the Strand, from the site of Exeter 'Change, lately demolished, westward, the Strand improvements are in progress, which will give to the whole neighbourhood a character of magnificence that it did not before in any degree possess. Nor is there a doubt that the example which has been set in the western and northern parts of the town, and in various parts of the city, will soon be followed in other neighbourhoods, and give, at no distant date, an entire new face of beauty to the principal streets and thoroughfares of the metropolis.

THEATRES AND PLACES OF AMUSEMENT.

The King's Theatre, or Italian Opera-House. This magnificent theatre, situated at the bottom of the Haymarket, on the western side, is appropriated exclusively to the performance of Italian operas, and ballets, in both which some of the most eminent vocal and instrumental performers and dancers in Europe are engaged, at very high salaries. The original edifice was burnt down in 1790, soon after which it was rebuilt, though externally it was not completed till 1818, after a design by Mr. Nash. It is built of brick cased with stucco, and is surrounded by a colonnade supported on castiron pillars of the Doric order; the front is decorated with figures in bas relief, representing the origin and progress of music, executed in 1821. The interior consists of a stage sixty feet long and eighty broad; five tiers of boxes, all of them either private property, or rented for the season, and affording accommodation to about nine hundred persons; a spacious pit and a gallery, with room in each for eight hundred spectators; a grand concert-room, ninety-five feet long, forty-six broad, and thirty-five high, with dressing and other apartments, entrances, staircases, &c., rendering it nearly equal in magnitude to the celebrated theatre of La Scala, at Milan; the fronts of the boxes are embellished, in compartments, with various emblematical designs, and the ceiling is adorned with a painting of the Nine Muses. The season usually commences in Jantiary, and continues until August, operas being constantly performed on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and of late, towards the close of the season, on Thursdays, during that period.

Drury-lane Theatre, situated in Brydges-street, had its origin in a cock-pit, which was converted into a place of theatrical entertainment, and pulled down and rebuilt, under the name of the Phoenix, in the reign of James I. A patent for dramatic performances having been granted by Charles II. to Killigrew, a new theatre was erected on the site of the present structure, and the actors having belonged to the king's household, their successors at this house have ever since been styled "His Majesty's Servants." This theatre was burnt in 1671, and rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, but was displaced, in 1793, by a much larger one, from a design by Holland, which, however, was burnt down in 1809, and the present edifice erected, in 1811, under the superintendence of Mr. B. Wyatt: the exterior is very plain; the front is of the Doric order, and the portico, supporting a statue of Shakspeare, was added in 1820: a new colonnade, along the side extending from Brydgesstreet to Drury-lane, is in contemplation; the building is the property of a number of shareholders. The interior of the house, which was rebuilt in 1822, is on a scale of great splendour: the grand entrance is through a spacious hall, supported by columns of the Doric order, leading to a rotunda, from which staircases ascend to the boxes; there are three tiers of boxes, besides others on each side of the lower gallery, and some on a level with the pit, affording together room for one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight spectators: the pit, over the centre of which hangs an elegant chandelier of cut glass, with gas-burners, is capable of accommodating eight hundred persons, the lower gallery six hundred and seventy-five, and the upper gallery three hundred and eight, making a total of three thousand six hundred and eleven persons. The stage, in front, is fortythree feet in width, and thirty-eight in height; and the height of the house, from the floor of the pit to the ceiling, is fifty feet and a half. The grand saloon is a handsome room, circular at each end, and about eighty-six feet in length.

Covent-Garden Theatre, situated in Bow-street, was established by Sir W. D'Avenant, who received a patent in 1662, under which successive companies acted at the theatre in Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, until the erection of the original theatre in Covent-Garden in 1733, which was burnt down in 1808, the present magnificent structure having been opened Sept. 18th, 1809. It stands in an isolated situation, and is nearly of a square form, being built, from a design by Mr. Smirke, Jun., in the Doric order, in imitation of the Temple of Minerva, situated in the Acropolis at Athens, at an expense of £ 150,000. In the centre of the priaL eipal front is a lofty portico of four large fluted baseless columns, elevated on a noble flight of steps, and supporting an enriched entablature and triangular pediment, on the tympanum of which are statues of Tragedy and Comedy by Flaxman: on each side of the portico is a basso relievo, representing the ancient and the modern drama. The entrance to the boxes is by a grand staircase adorned with Ionic columns, having Grecian lamps suspended between them, leading to an ante-room in which is a statue of Shakspeare, by Rossi, and from which a small flight of steps leads to the lobby forming the entrance to the boxes; there are three tiers of boxes, a spacious pit, and lower and upper galleries; over the centre of the pit hangs a magnificent chandelier of cut-glass. The house, it is computed, will afford accommodation to upwards of three thousand persons, and the receipts, in one night, may amount, at the highest calculation, to more than £ 900.

The Haymarket Theatre, situated in the Haymarket, was erected originally in 1702. The present edifice was opened in 1821, having been built from a design by Mr. Nash: in front is a portico of six Corinthian columns, supporting a pediment, above which are nine circular windows, connected by sculptured ornaments. The interior contains two tiers of boxes, and a row of boxes on each side of the pit, with two galleries, and is much smaller than any of the above-mentioned theatres, but -exceedingly neat and compact within. It is licensed for the performance of regular dramas daring the summer, at which period only it is open. The other minor establishments, most of which are summer theatres, are, the English Opera-House, or Lyceum, in the Strand, opened June 15th, 1816, and lately considerably damaged by fire, which has afforded an opportunity of carrying into effect the long-projected improvement of forming a new road in the line of the Waterloo bridge road, to the vicinity of Bedford-square; the Adelphi Theatre, also situated in the Strand, and formerly called the'"Sans Pareil;" the Royal Circus, or Surrey Theatre, in Blackfriars'-road, originally used for equestrian performances, destroyed by fire in 1805, and rebuilt in a superior style, since which it has been appropriated to the performance of melo-dramas, ballets, &c.; the Royal Coburg Theatre, in the Waterloo-road, first opened in 1818; Sadler's Wells, in St. John's street road, so called from some wells anciently situated there, and from the name of a person who, in 1683, first opened a theatre in that neighbourhood: the present edifice was erected in 1765, since which the interior has been rebuilt: the space beneath the stage is filled with water, affording the proprietors the means of introducing aquatic exhibitions, which have imparted a peculiar character to the performances at this house. Astley's, or the Royal Amphitheatre, opened, about 1767, as a riding-school, and converted into a regular theatre in -1780, is eminently distinguished for equestrian exhibitions: it was burnt down in 1794 and again in 1803, having been since rebuilt in a neat and commodious manner. The Olympic Theatre, in Wych-street, was built in 1806; the boxes afford room for three hundred and forty persons, the pit six hundred, and the gallery three hundred and twenty. The West London Theatre, in Tottenham-street, was formerly called the Regency Theatre, and has of late been occupied, during the winter, by a company of French comedians.

Vauxhall Gardens, now the only place of amusement of the kind adjoining the metropolis, are situated at Lambeth. They were formerly little more than tea gardens, enlivened with instrumental music; but their rural beauty and easy access rendered them so great a place of resort, that the proprietor was encouraged to speculate on public patronage, and by a series of attractions introduced from time to time, at length enabled Vauxhall to rank among the finest gardens of the kind in Europe. The entertainments commence after night-fall; and thirty thousand lamps are employed to illuminate the gardens on evenings of extraordinary splendour, contributing, with the aid of music, both vocal and instrumental, dramatic representations, fire-works, and other entertainments, to attract large companies in the summer months, during which only they are open.

Among the higher class of amusements are the nobility's balls, held at Willis' rooms, King-street, St. James', commonly called Almack's, from the name of their former proprietor; where also, and at Hanoversquare rooms, concerts take place; oratorios and selections of miscellaneous music are performed at Drurylane and Covent-Garden theatres, on Wednesday and Friday evenings during Lent, and at other periods; the present age being distinguished, above all others in England, for the patronage bestowed upon the art of music. There are various other miscellaneous public performances, but they are so multifarious and changeable, as to preclude a particular description.

COMMERCE.

The commerce of London has three principal branches: 1st. The port of London, with the foreign trade and domestic wholesale business; 2ndly, the manufactures; and, lastly, the retail trade. In 1268, the half-year's customs, for foreign merchandise in the city of London, amounted only to £75. 6.10. In 1331, they amounted to £8000. In 1354, the duty on goods imported was ony £580. 6. 8., and on exports, £81,624. 1. 1. In 1590, they yielded £50,000 a year. In 1641, just before the commencement of the civil war, the customs brought in £ 500,000 a year, the effect of a long series of peaceful days. From the year 1671 to 16H8 they were, on an average, £555,752. In 1709, they were raised to £2,319,320; and in the year ending April 1799,they amounted to £3,711,126. The astonishing increase in the extent of commercial intercourse in later years may be inferred from the following brief statement. The average number of British ships and vessels of various kinds, in the Thames and docks, is estimated at thirteen thousand four hundred and fortyfour, of which, the barges and other small craft, employed in lading and unlading, are not fewer than between three and four thousand: two thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight barges and other craft are engaged in the inland trade; besides which, there are three thousand wherries, or small boats, for passengers. About eight thousand watermen are employed in navigating the wherries and craft, four thousand labourers in lading and unlading ships, and twelve thousand revenue officers are constantly doing duty on the river. In regard to tonnage, the East India Company's ships alone carry more burden, by many thousand tons, than all the vessels in London did a century ago. The value of merchandise annually received and discharged in this port, is computed at between £60,000,000 and £70,000,000 sterling. From accounts printed by order of the House of Commons, it appears that, in 1798, previous to docks being constructed in the port of London, the value of imports and exports was £30,290,000. In 1806, after the docks were formed, the value increased to £36,527,000. In 1819, it increased to £46,935,000, and in 1825 it amounted to £96,936,000, being an increase of sixty-six millions and a half as compared with 1798. The number of coasters which entered the port in 1814 was fifteen thousand one hundred and thirty-nine; in 1821, eighteen thousand nine hundred and fifteen, being an increase in seven years of three thousand seven hundred and seventy-six ships. The number of ships moored in the river, during 1804, after the West India docks were opened, was seven thousand three hundred and twenty-seven; and in 1823, when five docks, and three wet dock canals were opened and fully employed, notwithstanding the extended accommodation, thirteen thousand one hundred and twelve, being an increase of six thousand ships; in addition to which, about one thousand nine hundred voyages by steam-boats annually now obstructs the navigation above Greenwich. From official returns of the Customs it appears that, in 1825, an increase of upwards of six hundred sail took place in the number of vessels which arrived in the port of London from foreign parts; since then, and till the present time, it has still kept rapidly increasing. The number of vessels which entered inwards from foreign ports, in 1826, was three thousand four hundred and ninety-five British, and one thousand five hundred and eighty-six foreign; and the number cleared outwards, two thousand one hundred and forty-nine British, and one thousand four hundred and eighty-six foreign. The scene of this immense train" ck occupies a space more than four miles in length, reaching from London bridge to Deptford, and from four hundred to five hundred yards in average breadth; which may be described as consisting of four divisions, three of them called the Upper, Middle, and Lower pools, and the fourth comprising the space between Limehouse and Deptford. The present annual value of the custom and excise duties may be rated at somewhat more than £6,000,000 sterling. It is, besides, calculated that above forty thousand wagons and other carriages, including their repeated journies, arrive and depart, laden in both instances, with articles of domestic, colonial, or foreign merchandise; occasioning a transit, including cattle and provisions sent for the consumption of the inhabitants, of more than £50,000,000 worth of goods to and from the inland markets, making altogether a sum of £ 120,000,000 worth of property annually moving to and from the metropolis.

London has long been celebrated for its manufactures, as well as its commerce. So early as the reign of Henry I., the English goldsmiths had become so eminent for working the precious metals, as to be frequently employed by foreign princes; and the perfection of various other manufactures at this period appears both from history and antique remains. The manufacturers of London had, in that reign, become so numerous as to be formed into fraternities, or companies, some of which are now disused, some have declined, as the Cappers, Bowyers, Fletchers, &c., and others still flourish, and are much increased in the number of their members, in the extent of their property and patronage, and in general importance. In 1556, a manufactory for the finer sorts of glass was established in Crutched Friars; and flint-glass, not exceeded by that of Venice, was made at the same time at the Savoy. About five years after, the manufacture of knit stockings was introduced, in consequence of the ingenuity of William Rider, an apprentice on London bridge, who, happening to see a pair from Mantua, at the house of an Italian, made another pair exactly similar to them, which he presented to William, Earl of Pembroke. The manufacture of knives was shortly after begun by Thomas Matthews of Fleet bridge, and has since eclipsed that manufacture at Sheffield, where it was much earlier established. Silk-wove stockings were first made from the invention of Lee, a student at Oxford, in the reign of Elizabeth, which reign forms so splendid an era in the commercial and trading history of the metropolis. Coaches were introduced in 1564, and in less than twenty years they became an extensive article of manufacture. In the following year, the manufacture of pins was begun, and soon after that of needles. The making of "earthen furnaces, earthen fire-pots, and earthen ovens transportable," began about the 16th year of Elizabeth, an Englishman of the name of Dyer having brought the art from Spain; 'and in 1579, the same individual being sent to Persia, at the expense of the city of London, brought home the art of dyeing and weaving carpets. In 1577, pocket-watches were imported from Nuremberg, in Germany, and the manufacture of them almost immediately commenced. In the reign of Charles I., saltpetre was made in such quantities as not only to supply the whole of England, but the greater part of the Continent. The manufacture of silk, as well as of various articles of plate, had also become extensive. The printing of calicoes commenced in 1676, and about the same time, weaving-looms were brought from Holland. The other articles of manufacture, introduced or practised in the metropolis about the same time, are too numerous to particularise.

The silk manufactory, which, under its different modifications, now affords employment to so many thousands, was first established at Spitalfields, by the expelled French Protestants, after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1685. Since that period the productions of London have greatly increased, both in extent and value, in articles of elegance and utility, such as cutlery, jewellery, gold and silver ornaments, japan ware, cut-glass, cabinet work, &c., as well as commodities requiring a great mart for their consumption, export, or sale, as porter, English wines, vinegar, refined sugar, soap, &c. In short, the manufactures of London, as well as its commerce, are vast and flourishing, many of the goods manufactured here surpassing in quality those of any other part of the country. In the silk trade alone fifty thousand persons are employed, and in most of the light manufactures the number is proportionably great. For the more scientific manufactures, such as those of machinery, optical and mathematical instruments, &c., London has always been celebrated. Ship-building is carried on to a great extent; and during the late war a considerable number of frigates was built for the government by private individuals, and with greater rapidity than they could be completed in the Royal Dock-yards.

THE COMMERCIAL DOCKS, CANALS, &c.

Intimately connected with the commerce of the metropolis is the establishment of enclosed docks, which have yielded the most decided service to the revenue and trade of the country. The former insecurity of property in the river, and the daring plunder committed on it, led to the formation of them.

The West India Docks which were the first constructed, are situated on what may be called the isthmus of that peninsular part of the environs of London named the Isle of Dogs, and communicate with the Thames at Limehouse on the west, and at Blackwall on the east. These docks were commenced on the 12th of June, 1800, and finished in August, 1802, occupying, with the ground attached to them, an area of two hundred and four acres. The import dock is two thousand six hundred feet long, five hundred and ten broad, and twenty-nine feet deep; the export dock is of the same dimensions, except in breadth. Both docks are enclosed by walls five feet thick, and surrounded by a series of very lofty and extensive warehouses; they are stated to have cost £12,000,000. The proprietors are an incorporated body, under the title of the West India Dock Company. In the vicinity is a school, established by the Company, for instructing apprentices in the West India navigation, whilst the vessels are in dock. Parallel with the docks is a canal, which cost between £300,000 and £400,000, to enable merchant vessels of any burden to avoid the circuitous navigation round the Isle of Dogs. The East India Docks, commenced in 1804, and completed in 1806, are lower down the river, but at no great distance from the former, and/ like them, consist of an import and an export dock, the former about one thousand four hundred feet long, and five hundred and sixty wide; and the latter seven hundred and eighty feet long, and five hundred and twenty wide; the depth of each is thirty feet; and the space which they occupy is twentyeight acres; a basin was added to the export dock in 1817. The largest dock is capable of containing, at one time, twenty-eight Indiamen, with double that number of smaller vessels. The goods from both these docks are conveyed to town by a recently formed rail-way running parallel with the Commercial road. The establishment of the East and West India Docks, which afford employment to many thousand individuals, has occasioned in their immediate vicinity a very numerous resident population.

The London Dock.-This is also an extensive dock, situated between Ratcliife-highway and the Thames; it covers twenty" acres of ground, and belongs to a Company whose capital is £12,000,000. It is capable of containing two hundred sail of merchantmen, and is not appropriated to any particular branch of commerce. It was opened February 1st, 1805, and is surrounded, like the former, with immense warehouses, beneath which are capacious cellars: another branch dock was opened in 1827 or 1828. Si. Katherine's Docks were commenced in 1825, and completed in 1829, by the merchants, shipowners, and traders of London, for securing additional accommodation to the great increase of shipping in the port, and a reduction in the rates and charges. These docks receive annually about one thousand four hundred merchant-vessels, besides craft for loading and discharging; and afford an improved mode of ingress and egress which no other docks in the kingdom . possess, as vessels drawing twenty feet of water may be locked from two to three hours after high water, and small vessels and lighters at all periods of the tide; the total outlay attending the construction of these docks (including the purchase of considerable property, capable of returning its price on re-sale) amounted to £1,827,113. The warehousing, bonding, and quay-room, are nearly equal to the London Docks; and, from an improved construction of the warehouses, which are within a few feet of the docks and basin, a considerable saving is effected in the expense of labour. These docks are also enclosed with walls, and are entitled to all the privileges of the warehousing system, and of legal quays, preventing goods lodged there, on exportation, from being chargeable with the duties on deficiencies. The Bermondsey Collier Dock is calculated to relieve the river from an obstruction to navigation by the number of small craft, which, in course of time, must otherwise have prevented ships with general cargoes approaching convenient places of discharge near the Custom House, and which had been serious matter of complaint for many years.

Notwithstanding the greater part of the interior of the kingdom being intersected with canals, the inland navigation to the metropolis is at present confined; owing, it is supposed, in a great measure, to the policy which prohibits the carriage of coal by that conveyance, and which would be the grand inducement to undertakings of this nature. The Paddington canal, which was the first, was not opened till July 10th, 1800. It leads from Paddington, and unites with the Grand Junction canal, whence the two are frequently mentioned by the joint name of the Grand Junction and Paddington canal. From the basin at Paddington, it extends nearly one hundred miles, to the Oxford canal at Branston, in Northamptonshire, by which it is connected with the Coventry and Birmingham canal, the Grand Trunk canal, &c.; thus forming a regular line of water conveyance from London into Lancashire and Yorkshire; another branch of the Grand Junction enters the Thames at Brentford. The Regent's canal connects the Paddington Grand Junction, and other canals west of London, with the Thames on the east, or mercantile side of the city, and, skirting the northern suburbs, has occasioned a vast influx of trade, with its accompanying warehouses, wharfs, &c., at Paddington, Battle-bridge, the City-road, and other places; it was opened August 1st, 1820; it branches out of the Grand Junction at Paddington, and, passing by a tunnel under Maida hill, continues through the Regent's park and St.Pancras' parish to Islington, when it passes through a tunnel, about three quarters of a mile long, immediately under the village and the bed of the New River, to the grand basin in the City-road, and proceeds on by Hoxton, Hackney, and Mile-End, to Limehouse, uniting all the principal canals in the kingdom with the Thames. The whole length of this canal is nine miles, and within that space are comprised twelve locks and thirtyseven bridges: the former are so admirably constructed, that a large barge can pass through each in three minutes and a half; they are capable of admitting barges twenty-three feet long and fourteen wide: this canal cost upwards of half a million of money, and was seven years in construction; it was executed under the superintendence of Mr. Nash. Otf the Surrey side of the river . is the Grand Surrey canal, which passes through the south-eastern suburbs, from Camberwell to the Thames at the lower extremity of Rotherhithe.

PUBLIC BUILDINGS DEVOTED TO COMMERCE.

The Royal Exchange is situated on the northern side of Cornhill. The entire building occupies an area two hundred and three feet long, and one hundred and seventy-one broad, and its erection cost £80,000. The original Royal Exchange, at first named Britain's Bourse, was founded, in 1566, by Sir Thomas Gresham, an eminent merchant of London, nearly on the spot where the ancient Tun prison stood; the merchants before that time having had no suitable place in which to assemble, and having been in consequence compelled to meet in the open air. The building erected by Sir Thomas was of brick and stone, with a lofty tower and vane, somewhat similar to the present, but much inferior in grandeur: this was destroyed by the great fire in 1666; and the present building of Portland stone was erected, in the reign of Charles II., from the designs of an architect named Jerman. Its form is quadrangular, the interior being surrounded by piazzas, divided into walks, bearing the names of different countries, the merchants connected with which generally assembling at those particular spots. Above the piazza is an entablature, with sculptures "of the armorial bearings of the city companies, and other appropriate ornaments, and over these are twenty-four niches^ nineteen of which are occupied by statues of the English sovereigns, from Edward I. down to George III.; Edward II., Richard II., Henry IV., and Richard III., being excluded; the statue of George III., occupying the twentieth niche, having been taken down for renovation, was restored in September, 1830. Sir Thomas Gresham's effigy, and that of Sir John Barnard, occupy niches within the piazza, the former at the northwestern, and the latter at the south-western, angle. The open area is ornamentally paved with Turkey stone, and is adorned in the centre with a statue in white marble of Charles II., under whose auspices the Exchange was rebuilt. The principal front, next Cornhill, is very noble, extending two hundred and ten feet in length, with a stately piazza, a lofty central gateway, which opens into the area, and ornamented with statues, bas-reliefs, and other embellishments; a newly-erected triple stoned tower rises above the gateway, with a circular peristyle, or colonnade, of eight Corinthian columns, surrounded with an entablature and dome surmounted by a lofty vane and gilt grasshopper, the crest of the founder. The north front next Threadneedle-street has also a piazza, and a gateway in the centre, corresponding with the one opposite. The galleries over the four sides of the building were originally divided into two hundred shops; but they are now occupied by the Royal Exchange Assurance and other offices, and, till their removal to the London Institution, the Gresham Lecture-rooms; also Lloyd's coffee-house, which is celebrated as a place of meeting for underwriters and insurance brokers; they comprise two separate suites of extensive rooms, one of which is public, and the other exclusively appropriated to subscribers, who pay a premium of twenty-five pounds upon admission, and four guineas annually, these sums forming a fund for the general purposes of the establishment, which has agents for the protection of the commercial interests of its subscribers all over the world.

Bank of England.-The business of this great national corporation was originally transacted at Grocers' Hall, Poultry. In the year 1732, the first stone of a more splendid edifice comprising the central part of the present building was laid, on the site of the house and garden of Sir John Houblon, the first governor. The eastern wing was completed about the year 1786, by the late Sir Robert Taylor, the north front, and the side towards Princes-street, were added from designs by Mr. Soane in 1825, when considerable alterations and improvements were made throughout the whole of the interior. The whole building forms an immense edifice, chiefly of stone. The principal entrance is opposite Bank buildings; the front, consists of a centre of the modern Ionic order, and two extensive wings, ornamented with a colonnade. The interior comprises nu-' merous apartments appropriated to different branches of the establishment; amongst which are, the Rotunda, a large circular apartment, principally used by the stockbrokers for transacting business in the public funds 5 the hall, in which the" bank notes are issued and exchanged 5 the chief cashier's office, a noble apartment, in imitation of the Temple of the Sun and Moon, at Rome; and the three per cents, warrant-office, an oblong room, with a vaulted ceiling supported by decorated piers, and having a handsome dome resting on caryatides in the centre, the whole being constructed without timber; and various other offices too numerous to particularise: the entire buildings are included in an area of irregular quadrangular form, the exterior wall of which measures three hundred and sixty-five feet in front, or on the southern side, four hundred and forty feet on the western side, four hundred and ten feet on the northern side, and two hundred and forty-five feet on the eastern side. This area comprises, together with the various buildings and offices, eight open courts: there are also underground apartments stored with bullion, coin, &c.

The Stock Exchange stands in Capel-court, opposite the eastern entrance to the Bank. It was completed in 1804, from a design by Mr. James Peacock. The business transacted here relates solely to the purchase and sale of stock in the public funds, Exchequer bills, India bonds, and other securities, an additional building having subsequently been erected for the transfer of foreign stock. On the east side of the great room is a recess with an elevated desk, for the use of the commissioners for the redemption of the national debt, who make their purchases four times a week: viz., on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, at the hour of twelve precisely. No person can transact business but those who are balloted for annually by a committee, who, on being chosen, subscribe ten guineas each; the number of Jew brokers is limited to twelve, who, before they are entitled to admission, must purchase a ticket of the lord mayor, which, on a vacancy occurring, is sold to him who will give the greatest sum, it being a perquisite of the lord mayor's for the time being; the tickets generally producing from £1200 to £1500 each.

The South Sea House, or, House of the South Sea Company, first incorporated in 1711, for the purpose of an exclusive trade to the south seas, is a substantial and handsome building of brick, ornamented with Portland stone; the entrance is by a gateway, with a noble front, leading into a court having a piazza, formed by Doric columns. The interior is grand and commodious, the court-room being particularly lofty, spacious, and elegant. The concerns of this company are managed by a governor, sub-governor, and twelve directors, annually elected.

East India House.-The present East India House, situated on the south side of Leadenhall-street, comprises the principal offices of the East India Company, where their courts are held, and all official and general business transacted^ and, as a public structure, it ranks among the most magnificent in the city. In consequence of the important additions to the old building erected in 1726, made under the superintendence of Mr. Jupp, and consisting of the centre and the west wing, with other important parts, adjoining Leadenhall-street, the whole may now be considered as almost a new edifice. The front, which is of stone, is about two hundred feet long; in the centre is a lofty portico of six fluted Ionic columns, the frieze of which is sculptured with antique ornaments, and above is a pediment, containing a group of figures in alto relievo by Bacon, emblematical of the commerce of the company. On the apex of the pediment is a figure of Britannia, and at the angles are figures emblematic of Europe and Asia. The wings have arched basement windows, with square windows above, and are surmounted by a handsome balustrade. The back, and part of the western side, of the building, are wholly enclosed by houses. The interior consists of a great number of apartments and offices, several of the former being of large dimensions and noble architecture. Those particularly worthy of observation, are the grand court-room, the new saleroom, the old sale-room, the rooms for the committee of correspondence, the library, and the museum; all of them embellished either with emblematical designs and paintings illustrative of commerce, statues and portraits of distinguished individuals who have been connected with the company, or with India generally, views of Indian scenery, or architectural ornaments. The library contains a fine collection of Indian and Chinese manuscripts, together with every book that has been published respecting Asia. The museum, which adjoins it, contains models of Indian and Gentoo idols; the library of the late Tippoo Saib, with his armour, and other trophies taken from that sovereign at Seringapatam; and abounds with Indian curiosities of every description. Connected with the business of the East India House are the extensive warehouses of the company, situated in New-street, Bishopsgate, Fenchurch-street, Crutched-Friars, and various other parts of London. The men employed are embodied into three regiments of Infantry, called "The Royal East India Volunteers," of which the superior clerks and officers in the company's service form the staff. In these warehouses teas, indigo, silks, china, crape, and other imported goods are deposited. The great height of these buildings, forming entire streets within themselves, with the multitude of windows, and of cranes for drawing up goods, combine to give an imposing idea of the commerce of this most important establishment.

Custom House. - The Custom House, or place where all the king's duties are collected on goods imported to, or exported from, London, stands on the north bank of the river, at a small distance to the westward of the Tower, having been removed to its present situation since the destruction of the former edifice by fire in 1814: it was begun in 1815, from a design by Mr. David Laing, and occupies an immense extent of ground, reaching from Billingsgate eastward, nearly to the site of the former Custom House. It is four hundred and eighty-nine feet long, by one hundred and seven feet wide; the whole cost of the erection being £167,050. The south front, next the river, is of Portland stone; the central compartment, which comprises the Long-room only, was at first quite plain, but this part of the building having lately sunk, from some defect in the foundation, it has been rebuilt in a more ornamented style, having a noble colonnade standing on a projecting basement, and surmounted by an open gal-- lery with balustrades; the fa$ade of each of the wings is enriched also with a colonnade of six Ionic columns to correspond. The interior contains an immense number of apartments and offices appropriated to the vast extent of business carried on in them; the principal is the Long-room already mentioned, which is of astonishing extent, its length being one hundred and ninety feet, its breadth sixty-six feet, and the height about fifty-five feet. Beneath this immense edifice are equally extensive vaults and store-cellars. Attached to the establishment are about six hundred and fifty clerks and officers, besides one thousand tide-waiters and servants. The Corn Exchange, instituted as a mart for the disposal of all kinds of grain through the medium of corn-factors, until very lately consisted only of a handsome brick building, on the east side of Mark-lane j but the vast increase of business requiring additional space, a new and commodious edifice of stone, was erected in 1828, adjoining the former. The principal facade consists of a centre and two wings, with a portico of six fluted Grecian Doric columns, supporting an entablature wreathed with chaplets of wheat-ears, and a cornice charged with lions' heads, the whole being surmounted by a blocking-course; over the centre is a large pedestal crowned with a cornice, above which are the royal arms sculptured in stone, with ploughs and other emblems of agriculture. The roof rests on entablatures supported by twelve columns, their capitals being composed of wheat-sheaves. The market is held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; the first being the principal day.

The Coal Exchange is situated in Thames-street, and comprises a spacious rotunda, with convenient divisions for the business of the coal merchants and dealers. It forms a small square, surrounded by an open arcade, and has a handsome front.

The Excise Office, in Broad-street, is a spacious and noble building, erected in 1763, to which the business of the excise, established in 1643, and at first carried on in the Old Jewry, was transferred. In this office the town business of the excise is transacted, by nine commissioners, having under them numerous clerks and officers. It consists of two ranges of building, one v of stone, the other of brick, separated from each other by a large yard. From the centre of each of these ranges, passages and staircases lead to the apartments of the commissioners and clerks.

The Commercial Hall, situated in Mincing-lane, is an elegant structure, erected by subscription in 1811, for the sale of the various kinds of colonial produce. The front is of Portland stone, ornamented with six attached tonic columns rising from the lower story, and supporting an entablature; between them are five emblematic devices, executed by Bubb, representing Britannia, Husbandry, Science, Commerce, and Navigation. The interior, which is of considerable extent, contains five public sale-rooms, a large coffee-room, several shewrooms, and numerous counting-houses let to various merchants.

The Auction Mart, Bartholomew-lane, was opened in 1810, principally for the sale of landed property by public auction: it is constructed of Portland stone, and, though not very large, is unsurpassed in the metropolis for airiness, lightness, and gracefulness of design. The internal arrangements, too, are all upon a plan which unites elegance with utility. Previously to the erection of this edifice, the principal sales took place at Garraway's Coffee-house, in Change-alley, where a great part of the business is still transacted. At the Mart, particulars of all sales are preserved for the sake of public reference, as are also all charters and legislative enactments regarding canals, rail-roads, bridges, &c.

Trinity House, Tower Hill.- This corporation was originally established at Deptford, under the title of " The Master, Wardens, and Assistants of the Guild or Fraternity of the most Glorious and Undivided Trinity, and of St. Clement, in the parish of Deptford Strand, in the county of Kent." It was incorporated by Henry VIII., in the year 1516, at a period when the English navy began to assume an ascendancy, as a sort of guardian of the shipping, military and commercial, being for that purpose endowed with extensive powers, which it still exercises. The members examine those children in Christ's Hospital, intended for the sea service, and the masters of king's ships, appoint pilots for the Thames, and settle the rate of pilotage, erect lighthouses and land-marks, grant licenses to poor seamen not free of the city, to navigate on the Thames; besides transacting a variety of other business connected with that river, and maritime affairs generally. The originator of this establishment was Sir Thomas Spert, comptroller of the navy, and commander of the Harry Grace de Dieu. The house which the company afterwards occupied in Water-lane, near the Custom House, being found inconvenient, the present structure was completed from a design by Mr.Wyatt, in 1795. It is built of stone, in the purest style of Grecian architecture, within are several handsome apartments, and, having the advantage of a rising ground for its site, and a fine area in front, it deservedly ranks among the finest buildings of the metropolis.

Post-Office. The necessity for the removal of this establishment, from its former confined situation in Lombard- street having long been urgent, an act was passed in 1815, for the erection of a new post-office, which was completed in 1829, from a design by Mr. Smirke, a great portion of the interval having been consumed in the purchase and removal of the houses which were crowded upon its site. This building is an isolated massive structure of large dimensions, composed externally of Portland stone, being about three hundred and eighty-nine feet long, one hundred and thirty broad, and sixty-four high, standing in an enclosed area of irregular figure, at the junction of the street called St. Martiu's-le-Grand with Newgate-street, a central and convenient situation. The old buildings on the north have been taken down as far as St. Anne's lane; and it is presumed, that at least an equal area will be cleared on the south, by removing the few houses which still remain, and obstruct the approach from Cheapside. The facade towards St. Martin's-le-Grand is the only one in which there is any architectural display, and this is confined to three porticos of the Ionic order, one at each end consisting of four columns, and one in the centre of six, the latter being surmounted by a pediment; on the frieze over the columns is the inscription, Georgia Quarto. Rege, MDCCCXXIX. Under the central portico, by an ascent of several steps, is the entrance to the grand public hall of the establishment, which extends through the building into Foster-lane, being eighty feet long, by about sixty feet wide, and divided by Ionic columns, into a centre and two aisles; the centre rises to the height of about fifty-three feet, and admits of a dwarf, or attic pilastrade over the principal order, the intervals of which are glazed for the admission of light. In the northern aisle are the Inland, American, Ship-letter, and Newspaper offices; and at the eastern end is a staircase leading to the Letter-bill, Dead, Mis-sent, and Returned, letter offices. In the southern are the Foreign and Two-penny post departments, the Offices of the Receiver-General and Accountant, and the entrance to the Assistant-Secretary's official residence. North of the centre, and in the eastern front, is the entrance, or vestibule, where the bags are received from the mails. Communicating with the vestibule is the Inland office, eighty-eight feet long, fifty-six wide, and twenty-eight high; and adjoining it is that of the letter carriers, one hundred and three feet long, thirty-five wide, and thirty-three high. The West India letters have an office appropriated expressly to them, on the eastern side. Near which are the Comptroller's and Mail coach offices. The communication between the apartments in the northern and southern divisions of the building is by a subterraneous passage beneath the Great Hall, in which the letters from one department to another are conveyed by machinery, invented by Mr. Barrow. The Inland office may be regulated to any temperature by a warm air apparatus, designed and fixed by Mr. Sylvester. On the first floor are the Board-room, the Secretary's rooms, and the Secretary's clerks' office; the Solicitor's office, and those for the Letter-bill, Dead, Mis-sent, and Returned, letters. On the second and third stories are lodgingrooms for the clerks of the foreign office, it being necessary, from the uncertainty of the time of arrival of the mails, that they should be always on the spot. On the basement, which is vaulted, and therefore fireproof, are the mail guards' room and armoury; the servants' offices; the apparatus for warming the patent gasometer by the Messrs. Crossleys, large enough to register four thousand cubic feet of gas per hour; and a " governor," by Mr. Clegg, for regulating the supply of gas to nearly a thousand argand burners: the gas is supplied by the City of London Gas Company. The business is very extensive and complicated. The building is divided into - The Inland Office, in which, according to a return for January, 1829, there are one hundred and thirteen clerks and other persons ordinarily in attendance at the morning duty, and one hundred and nineteen at the evening duty; the Returned Letter Office, in which there are an inspector and nine clerks; the Foreign Office, in which there are a comptroller and deputy, and sixteen clerks and sorters, including the West India office; the Letter-Bill Office, in which there are a superintendent and seven clerks; the Bye-Letter Office, in which there are an accountant and four clerks; besides the offices of the Receiver-General, the Accountant-General, the Surveyor and Superintendent of Mail coaches, and the Secretary, in which there are nearly fifty persons, making a total of nearly three hundred and fifty persons engaged in this important establishment.

The business of the Two-penny Post, which applies exclusively to London and its immediate vicinity^ forms, only a branch of the General Post-Office. The principal office being in Gerrard St. Soho. The returns of the Commissioners of Revenue Enquiry afford a remarkable proof of the convenience of this mode of conveying letters through the metropolis and its vicinity, by exhibiting the great extent of business which is thus transacted. From them it appears that the average number of letters passing daily through the Two-penny Post-Office, taking May as the period when the returns are prepared, is forty thousand. This account includes soldiers' and sailors' letters and newspapers, as well as those letters which are either delivered to, or from, the General Post-Office by the Two-penny Post. There are six collections and deliveries of letters in town daily, Sundays excepted; and there are two dispatches from, and three deliveries at, most places in the country within the limits of this office. Besides the principal office, there are scattered through the town and its environs about fifty receiving-houses for the General Post-Office, and upwards of one hundred for the Two-penny Post.

FAIRS AND MARKETS.

London has at present only one fair, well known by the name of Bartholomew fair, which, though anciently famous for the sale of cloth and other commodities, is now resorted to merely for amusement: it was granted by Henry II. to the prior and convent of St. Bartholomew, and its opening is proclaimed by the lord mayor in civic state, on the 3rd of September, after which it continues three more days, a court of pie-powder being held during the time. The markets, held in different parts of the metropolis, amount to sixteen flesh markets, and twenty-five for corn, hay, vegetables, &c. Smithfield is the grand mart for the sale of live stock, which takes place on Mondays and Thursdays, on which latter day there is also one for horses; upwards of one hundred thousand bullocks, and eight hundred thousand sheep, are, on an average, annually sold here. Newgate, Leadenhall, and Whitechapel markets, are the principal wholesale markets for butchers' meat, and the two former for poultry; Leadenhall a:id the Borough markets are the only skin markets within the bills of mortality; and at both Leadenhall and Newgate markets are sold pigs and poultry, killed in the country, with fresh butter, eggs, &c., to an immense amount. Covent Garden market is celebrated for its early and abundant supply of fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Farringdon market (formerly Fleet market), Spitalfields market, the Borough, market, and Finsbury market, at least the three former, are noted for supplying an abundance of the commoner vegetables and fruit; and Farringdon, Newport, and Clare, markets for home-killed butchers' meat. The only market in London, exclusively for the sale of fish, is that of Billingsgate, but it is in contemplation to establish another on the site of Hungerford market, Strand. Billingsgate is principally supplied by fishing-boats and smacks from various parts, and partly with fresh fish by land carriage. There are various less extensive markets for the sale of butchers' meat, &c. The incommodious and mean buildings which crowded the large area of Covent Garden have all been removed, and a new and handsome market-place completed at the cost of the Duke of Bedford, who is the sole proprietor. It consists of three principal ranges of building, extending in length from east to west, the external fronts of the northernmost and southernmost ranges of which, as well as the west end of the centre one, being adorned with a colonnade of the Tuscan order, supporting a neat balustrade, and having a wide gateway in the centre. Down the middle of the central range is a handsome arcade, having shops on each side, the western extremity of which' is immediately opposite to the front of St. Paul's church, the eastern to the end of Russell-street. The eastern end of these three ranges are connected by a terrace supported upon rows of baseless Tuscan columns, of single blocks of granite, like those of the colonnades, forming a pleasant promenade among flowers and plants tastefully arranged for sale. One flight of steps leads up to this terrace from the end of each of the two outer ranges of building, and two from that of the centre one. A great part of the space between the central and the northern ranges is roofed. The whole of the enclosed area is paved with flag stones; and it is sur- rounded by a spacious carriage way.

The corporation of the city of London were authorised, by an act of parliament passed in 1814, to remove the old Fleet market, and to erect a new one. The execution of this public improvement was confided to a committee, who obtained a new site, cleared away the houses upon it, erected suitable buildings, and at length completed the numerous other necessary arrangements, so as to enable the corporation to open the new market for business on November 20th, 1829. It forms a handsome and elevated quadrangle of two hundred and thirty-two feet by one hundred and fifty, standing on a surface of one acre and a half. The purchase of houses, &c., is stated to have cost £200,000; the building of the market-house, including paviours' accounts, &c., £ 80,000. The avenue, under which,, are the shops of the dealers, and which extends round three sides of the market-place, is twenty-five feet high, to what are technically called the tie-beams, with ventilators ranged at equal distances. In the centre of the roof of the principal avenue are placed a turret and clock, the latter illuminated at night with gas. The chief entrance is by two principal gates, for wagons, &c., in Stone-cutter-street, which has been made double its former width; and there are two smaller ones for footpassengers; eighteen large gas lamps are placed in the centre of the market-place. Eatables only are permitted to be bought and sold in this market. The old market- place having been entirely removed, and the street repaved, it forms a fine line in connexion with Bridgestreet, and Great Surrey-street; being in the whole considerably more than a mile in length, and it is in contemplation to continue the line of road to Islington.

MUNICIPALITY AND LEGAL JURISDICTION.

CITY.-The City of London, properly so called, consists of that part anciently within the walls, together with that termed the Liberties, which immediately surround them; the liberties are encompassed by an irregular line, called the line of separation, which is the boundary line between them and the county of Middlesex. Their superficial extent does not exceed three hundred acres; their boundaries are marked by the Bars, which formerly consisted of posts and chains, bxit are now marked by lofty stone obelisks, bearing the city arms, which may be seen eastward, in Whitechapel, the Minories, and Bishopsgate street; northward, in Goswell- street, at the end of Fan-alley, and in St. John'sstreet; and [westward, at Middle-row, Holborn; while at the western end of Fleet-street, the boundary is the stone-gateway called Temple Bar.

The grand division of the city is into twenty-five wards, exclusively of Bridge ward Without. The number of wards, -which in' 1285 has been stated to have been twenty-four, was, by the division of Farringdon ward into two wards in the 17th of Richard II., augmented to twenty-five; and when, in 1550, the liberties of the borough of Southwark were granted to the city, they were constituted a twenty-sixth ward, by the name of Bridge ward Without; and this number has continued ever since. Of these wards, exclusively of the last-mentioned, thirteen are on the east, and twelve on the west, side of Walbrook. Their names are as follows:-Aldersgate (Within and Without), Aidgate, Bassishaw, Billingsgate, Bishopsgate (Within and Without), Bread-street, Bridge (Within), Broad-street, Candlewick, Castle-Baynard, Cheap, Coleman-street, Cordwainers' Cornhill, Cripplegate (Within and Without), Dowgate, Farringdon (Within), Farringdon (Without), Langbourn, Lime-street, Portsoken, Q,ueen-hy the, Towerstreet, Vintry, Walbrook; the wards are subdivided into several precincts, each of which returns one common council-man; the total number of precincts being two hundred and thirty-six.

Aldersgate ward derived its name from the city gate, called Aldersgate, which has been thought by some antiquaries to have taken that denomination from being the oldest gate, by others from the alder-trees which anciently grew in the marshy soil in that neighbourhood. It comprises two divisions and adjoins Cripplegate and Farringdon wards, has eight precincts (four in each division), and includes, among its principal thoroughfares, Aldersgate-street, Foster-lane, Noblestreet, Little Britain, and the liberty of St. Martin's-le- Grand; it has an alderman, two deputies (one within the gates, and the other without), eight common councilmen, and inferior officers.

Aldgate ward is denominated from the gate of the same name. Its precincts are seven; and its principal streets, Aldgate and the eastern parts of Leadenhall and Fenchurch streets -. it is under the superintendence of an alderman, a deputy, six common council-men, including the deputy, and inferior officers.

Bassishaw ward the smallest in the city, contains only two precincts, and consists principally of one large street, called Basinghall-street, the name of which is a corruption of Basings-haugh, or hall, a large mansion here, formerly belonging to the family of the Basings; it has an alderman, a deputy, four common council-men, and inferior officers.

Billingsgate ward, situated on the side of the Thames, is divided into twelve precincts, and is governed by an alderman, ten common council-men, and inferior officers.

Bishopsgate ward took its name from the gate which stood almost in the centre of it, between the ends of Camomile-street and Wormwood-street, dividing it into two divisions Within and Without. It has nine precincts, five within, and four without, the gate. The principal streets are Bishopsgate-street and part of Fenchurch-street. The buildings in this ward are among the most ancient in the metropolis; the great fire of 1666 not having extended far in this direction, and not at all to that part of the ward situated without the gate. It has an alderman, two deputies (one within the gate, the other without), six common council-men, and inferior officers.

Bread-street ward is situated nearly in the centre of the city, between the ward of Farringdon Within, and Cordwainers', Queen-hythe, and Castle-Baynard wards. It takes its name from the bread market formerly held on the present,.site of Bread-street, the bakers anciently not being allowed to sell bread in their shops or houses, but only in the open market. The number of precincts is twelve; and the principal thoroughfares are Watlingstreet, with the streets in the same line to Old Fishstreet, part of the south side of Cheapside, and several of the cross streets between the two: it has an alderman, a deputy, twelve common council-men, and inferior officers. Bridge ward Within, so named from its contiguity, to London bridge, (which, at the time it had houses upon it, formed three of its precincts,) is divided into fourteen precincts; the principal streets being Fish-street-hill, part of Gracechurch-street, Upper and Lower Thamesstreet, and Eastcheap; it has an alderman, a deputy, and fifteen common council-men, including the deputy, with inferior officers.

Bridge ward Without, although so long annexed to London, was never entirely incorporated with it, and is wholly unrepresented in the common council. Its civil government is administered by a steward and a bailiff, appointed by the court of the lord mayor and aldermen. The Surrey magistrates, notwithstanding the royal grants to the city, retain the power of appointing constables, and licensing victuallers, and exercise other powers of justices of the peace for the county within the limits of the ward. This ward includes nearly the whole of the borough of Southwark, and extends to Newington on the south, almost as far as Lambeth westward, and to Rotherhithe on the east, having the Thames on its northern side. The principal streets are, the Borough High-street, which is continued southward by St. Margaret's hill and Blackman-street, Kent-street, the new Dovor road, Tooley-street, and Union-street: there are, besides, numerous others, several of which are of considerable length, and the great thoroughfares are inhabited by respectable and wealthy tradesmen. The alderman who nominally governs this ward has the title of " Father of the City." Whenever a vacancy occurs in the aldermanry it is customary fat the lord mayor and aldermen to appoint to it the senior alderman; this nominal office being regarded as an ho-: nourable sinecure, which relieves him from the fatigues of office. That portion of the borough of Southwark situated without the city jurisdiction, or borough liberty, is called the Clink liberty, and is under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester, who appoints a steward and a bailiff for its government.

Broad-street ward is so denominated from a street in it which obtained the name of Broad-street from being, before the fire, one of the widest within the walls; its precincts are ten, and include within their limits Old Broad-street, Threadneedle-street, Bartholomewlane, Throgmorton-street, Great and Little Winchesterstreets, Austin-Friars, and part of Leadenhall-street: the inhabitants elect an alderman, a deputy, and nine common council-men, with inferior officers. Candlewiclc ward, which took its name from Candlewick (now Cannon) street, formerly much occupied by wax and tallow chandlers, is a small ward divided into seven precints, the principal streets of which are, Great Eastcheap, and the west end of Cannon-street: it has an alderman, a deputy, seven common councilmen, and inferior officers.

Castle-Baynard ward takes its name from the ancient castle which stood on the site of the present Carron wharf, and was originally built by William Baynard, a soldier of fortune, who accompanied the Norman William in his invasion of England. It afterwards passed into the hands of the Fitz-Walters, who make a prominent figure in the early history of London, and who possessed, by virtue of this castellanship, the honour of being hereditary standard-bearers to the city. The soke, or liberty, anciently attached to this castle, forms the present ward, which is divided into ten precincts; the principal streets being, the west end of Upper Thames-street, St. Peter's-hill, St. Bene't's-hill, Sermon and Carter lanes, Paul's chain, part of St. Paul's churchyard, and the east sides of Creed, Ave-Maria, and Warwick lanes: it has an alderman, ten common cuncil-men, and inferior officers.

Cheap ward, situated in the centre of the city, takes its name from the Saxon word Chepe, signifying a market; the present Cheapside having been anciently called " West Chepe," to distinguish it from another market called "East Chepe." Before the street called Waibrook, which intersects this ward, was covered in, barges were towed up it from the Thames, as far as Bucklersbury. It is divided into nine precincts; the east end of Cheapside, the Poultry, parts of Queen-street, Pancras, Ironmonger, Lawrence, and Bow lanes, Kingstreet, and the north side of Cateaton-street, with Honey-lane market, from the principal thoroughfares of this ward, which is under the government of an alderman, twelve common council-men, and inferior officers. The standard, or cross, in Chepe, is familiar to the readers of civic history as the ancient place of execution within the city.

Coleman-street ward is so called from Colemanstreet, the principal street in it, and supposed to derive its name from a family of the name of Coleman, who lie buried in St. Margaret's church, Lothbury, who might have been the builders, owners, or principal inhabitants of that part of the city. It contains six precincts, and is governed by an alderman, a deputy, six common council-men, and inferior officers.

Cordwainer's ward derives its name from Cordwainers'- street, now Bow-lane, which was formerly a great mart for curriers, shoemakers, and others working in leather. It has eight precincts, the principal streets being Watling-street, Bow-lane, and Queen-street; and the inhabitants elect an alderman, nine common coxincil- men, and inferior officers.

Cornhill ward is named from the principal street in it, which was anciently the great city market for corn; the precincts are four. The extent of this ward is small, the principal thoroughfare being Cornhill, which is a spacious street of large well-built houses, and part of the great central thoroughfare through the city: it has an alderman, a deputy, and six common councilmen, including the deputy, with inferior officers.

Cripplegate ward took its name from the city gate, called Cripplegate, comprises two divisions, Cripplegate Within, and Cripplegate Without, the walls. It adjoins Cheap, Bassishaw, and Coleman-street wards, and contains thirteen precincts, including, amongst its principal streets, Fore-street, White, and Red, Cross streets, part of Jewin-street, and Barbican, and has an alderman, and (Within the walls) eight common council-men, and (Without the walls) four common council-men, with inferior officers.

Dowgate ward, supposed by some antiquaries to take its name from dwyr-gate, meaning, in the ancient British language, Water gate, which is by Stowe supposed to have been the trajectus, or ferry across the Thames, in the line of the Watling-street, has eight precincts. This ward extends from Martin's-lane on the east, to Cloak-lane on the west; and from Cannonstreet on the north, to the Thames on the south, nearly in the form of a square, within which space are contained Dowgate-hill and Dowgate-dock, the Steel-yard, St.Lawrence-Pountney-hill, Duckfoot-lane, Suffolk-lane, Bush-lane, Chequer-yard, and Cloak-lane: it has an alderman, eight common council - men, and inferior officers.

Farringdon wards (Within and Without) were originally but one ward, the aldermanry of which was purchased by a family of that name. It was divided into two wards in the 17th of Richard II. Farringdon ward Within comprehends that part of the city which lay immediately within the walls, on the western side. Farringdon ward Without includes all that part which lay without the walls, to the westward, as far as Temple Bar; the former contains seventeen precincts, the latter sixteen; and the two wards include a considerable number of the principal thoroughfares of the town: viz., Ludgate-hill, Fleet-street, part of Cheapside, St. Paul's churchyard, Hatton Garden, Skinner and Newgate streets, and West Smithfield; besides the whole of Black and White Friars, St. Paul's cathedral, Christ's hospital, and numerous other buildings, important places, and objects. Farringdon ward Within, returns an alderman, a deputy, and eight common councilmen; and Farringdon ward Without, an alderman, three deputies, and sixteen common council-men; inferior officers are appointed for each ward respectively. Langbourn ward takes its name from a brook that formerly ran from Fenchurch-street to the Thames; the stream spread so much near the head of the spring, that the neighbourhood received from it the name of "Fenny about;" and this circumstance is still perpetuated in the name of Fenchurch-street. It is divided into twelve precincts; the principal streets are, Fenchurchstreet and Leadenhall-street: an alderman, a deputy, ten common council-men, and inferior officers, are appointed for its government.

Lime-street ward is said to have received its name from the making and selling of lime here; or, according to others, from lime trees having been anciently planted on the spot. Though small, this ward includes parts of several parishes; it has four precincts, and its principal streets are, Lime-street and a part of Leadenhall- street; an alderman, a deputy, and four common council-men, including the deputy, with inferior officers, are appointed.

Portsoken ward takes its name from being situated without the wall, or gate, of the city, the word portsoken signifying the franchise ad Portam. It anciently included a considerable part of the Tower liberties; it is divided into five precincts, the principal streets within which are Whitechapel (as far as the bars), part of Aldgate High-street, the Minories, and Houndsditch; it has an alderman, deputy, five common council-men, inchiding the deputy, and inferior officers.

Queen-hythe ward takes its name from the harbour of Queen-hythe, which was formerly a principal place of loading and unloading goods, and was so called because the customs payable there were assigned by King John to his queen Eleanor, and to the queens of England who should succeed her, for their private use. The ground, for a considerable space around the harbour, formed a soke, which was governed by the queen's bailiffs. In the time of Henry III., however, it came into the hands of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who conveyed it, in retimi for an annuity, to the Mayor and Corporation of London. It lies between Dowgate and Castle-Baynard wards, on the banks of the Thames; it has six precincts, and its principal street is part of Upper Thames-street: the inhabitants appoint an alderman, six common council-men, and inferior officers.

Tower ward is the first in the eastern part of the city within the walls, and takes its name from its vicinity to the Tower. The precincts are twelve, and its principal streets are, Tower-street and a part of Thames-street; the inhabitants elect an alderman, twelve common council-men, and subordinate officers.

Vintry ward comprises a space on the northern bank of the Thames, where the merchants of Bourdeaux formerly bonded and sold their wines. This spot was at the south end of Three Cranes-lane, so called from the cranes with which the wine was landed; and at the north-eastern corner of this lane, in Thames-street, opposite to College-hill, anciently stood a spacious and stately edifice,, called the Vintry, from its being appropriated to the stowage of wine. It is divided into nine precincts, the principal streets being part of Upper Thames-street, part of Queen-street, Great St. Thomas the Apostle, Garlick-hill, and College-hill: it has an alderman, nine common council-men, and inferior officers.

Walbrook ward was so called from the brook which intersected the city wall at Dowgate, and flowed into the Thames; it has seven precincts, the principal streets and lanes in which are, Walbrook, Bucklersbury, Budge-row, Dowgate-hill, Cannon-street, Bearbinderlane, St. Swithin's-lane, and the west end of Lombardstreet; the inhabitants elect an alderman, eight common council-men, and officers.

The entire civil government of London is vested, by successive charters of the English sovereigns, in its own corporation, or body of citizens, confirmed, for the last time, by a charter passed in the 23rd of George II. As then settled, the corporation consists of the lord mayor, two sheriffs for London and Middlesex conjointly, twenty-six aldermen, the common councilmen of the several wards, and the livery; assisted by a recorder, chamberlain, common serjeant, comptroller, city remembrancer, town clerk, and various other officers.

The Lord Mayor is elected annually on the 29th of September; the livery in Guildhall, or common assembly, choose two aldermen by shew of hands, who are presented to a court called the Court of Lord Mayor and Aldermen, by whom one of the aldermen so chosen (usually the senior) is declared lord mayor elect, and on the 9th of November following he enters on his office. He is supreme magistrate of the city: his title, since the reign of Edward III., has been " The Rt. Hon. The Lord Mayor." It is necessary that the nominee shall be free of one of the great city companies, shall have served the office of sheriff, and be alderman at the time of election. The prerogatives are of great extent and importance; as the immediate representative of the Sovereign, the lord mayor takes precedence of every other subject within the limits of the city, and, in the event of the monarch's decease, becomes the first officer in the realm, takes his seat at the privy council board, and signs before all other subjects in the kingdom. As civil governor of the city, no act of the corporation is valid without the concurrence of the lord mayor. According to a custom of nearly three hundred years' standing, he sits every morning at the mansionhouse, to hear and determine causes of offence within the jurisdiction of the city. He is perpetual coroner and escheator for London, the Liberties, and Southwark; chief justice in all commissions for trial of felony and gaol delivery; and judge of all courts of wardmote for the election of aldermen. In other respects, his ordinary authority extends all over the city, and to part of the suburbs; and, as conservator of the Thames, it extends eastward on the river as far as Yardale, or Yantlet, and the mouth of the river Medway; and westward to Colne ditch, above Staines' bridge; and he is perpetual commissioner in all affairs relating to the river Lea. To the lord mayor also belongs the ancient court of Hustings, which preserves the laws, rights, franchises, and customs, of the city. He acts as chief butler at all coronations, receiving a golden cup and ewer for his fee; and is first commissioner of the lieutenancy, being invested with powers similar to those possessed by the lord-lieutenant of a county.

The Aldermen are chosen for life, by the free householders of every ward, that of Bridge Without excepted, to which the aldermen themselves elect. The lord mayor presides at the election of an alderman, and, if a poll be demanded, it terminates in three days. Those aldermen who have filled the civic chair are justices of the quorum; and all the other aldermen are justices of the peace within the city. They are subordinate governors of their respective wards, under the jurisdiction of the lord mayor, and they exercise an extensive power within their own districts. They hold courts of ward-mote, for the election of common council-men and other ward officers, the regulation of the business of the ward, the removal of obstructions, &c.; and, in the discharge of these duties, each 'alderman is assisted by one or two deputies, who are annually selected by himself from among the common council-men of his own ward; the aldermen are officially addressed by the title of " Your Worship."

The Common Council men represent the inhabitants of their respective wards. Their office is annual, and their number, which formerly varied, is at present fixed, according to the number of the city precincts, at two hundred and thirty-six, for the whole of the wards. They are chosen by the inhabitant householders, in the same manner as the aldermen, with this difference, that the lord mayor presides at the election of an alderman, and the alderman at the election of a common councilman. The election for each ward takes place on St. Thomas' day, the alderman deciding on disputed votes, and declaring the return.

The representatives of the wards, with the lord mayor and aldermen, constitute what is called the court of Common Council, or Three City Estates. The powers of this court are extensive. It has the entire disposal of the funds of the corporation, makes such by-laws as it thinks necessary for the regulation of its concerns, and possesses the right of nomination to several of the subordinate city offices; and, in addressing it by petition, or otherwise, it has the style of "Honourable." The court debates in a spacious and elegant chamber attached to the guildhall, the lord mayor officially habited and attended, with the city regalia before him, occupying a state chair on an elevated platform at one end, below whom sit the aldermen also in their official costume. The sittings of the court are usually public, but it has the power, though rarely exercised, of excluding strangers. The common council cannot assemble without a summons from the lord mayor, and then for one sitting only; but it is his duty to call a meeting whenever it is demanded by requisition, and the law compels him to assemble the court a certain number of times during his mayoralty. The common council annually elect six aldermen and twelve common council-men, as a committee for letting the city lands, and this committee generally meets at the guildhall, on Wednesdays; it also appoints another committee of four aldermen, and eight common councilmen, for transacting the affairs of Gresham college, who usually meet at Mercers' hall, according to the appointment of the lord mayor, who is always one of their number. Besides the appointment of these and several other committees, they, by virtue of a royal grant, annually choose a governor, deputy, and assistants, for the management of the city lands in Ireland. In short, the civil administration, in all its branches, within the jurisdiction of the corporation (which in all cases embraces the city, and part of the borough of Southwark, and in some extends beyond), is exercised by the corporation, or its officers.

The Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, who are, strictly speaking, officers of the king, are chosen by such citizens as are of the livery, out of their own number in the guildhall, upon Midsummer-day, but are not sworn into office until Michaelmas-day, when each sheriff enters into a bond of £1000 to the corporation to serve it faithfully; after which, they proceed in state to Westminster, to be accepted on behalf of the king, by the barons of the Exchequer. The mode of nomi nating the sheriff is, for the lord mayor to drink in succession to fourteen respectable citizens, two of whom are elected, and who are obliged to serve, according to a by-law made in 1748, under a penalty of £600, to be forfeited to the city, and £ 13. 6. 8. to the officers of the city prisons, unless the person chosen will swear that he is not worth £15,000. Of this £600, one hundred pounds is given to him who first agrees to fill the office. In the election of a sheriff, the opinion of the livery in common hall is not decisive, and if a poll be demanded, it continues open for seven days. The lord mayor cannot properly nominate a commoner as sheriff, if there be an alderman who has not served that office, though it is frequently done; but if the citizen drank to pays the fine, he is excepted from being again nominated for three years, unless within that term he becomes an alderman. No alderman can be exempted for more than one year after a previous payment, without the consent of the common council. The jurisdiction of the two sheriffs is, to a considerable extent, perfectly separate; but if either die, the other cannot act until a new one be chosen; for there must be two sheriffs for London, which, by charter, is both a city and a county, though they make but one jointly for the county of Middlesex. By grant of Edward IV., in 1473, the sheriffs are appointed to have sixteen Serjeants, and every serjeant his yeoman; also a secondary, six clerks, a clerk of the papers, four under-clerks, and two undersheriffs. In serving writs of process, where the king is a party, the sheriffs may break open doors, or untile houses, to gain admittance, if entrance be denied; but not upon private process, except upon outlawry after judgment.

Of the officers associated with the corporation in the city government, the principal is the Recorder, who is appointed by the lord mayor and aldermen for life, with a salary of £2500 per annum. He must be a grave and learned lawyer, and as such, usually acts as judge at the OldBailey,and other courts; he takes precedence in councils and courts before all aldermen who have not filled the office of mayor. The Chamberlain, Common Serjeant, and Town Cleric, are officers ranking next to the recorder, and have respectively duties to perform of great importance, as have also the City Comptroller, and City Remembrancer. There are various other inferior city officers.

Common-Halls, which are assemblies of the livery, are convenable on requisition of several of its members to the lord mayor, who presides, and are only called on extraordinary occasions. The Livery, about twelve hundred in number, and who return four members to parliament, are composed of the respective liverymen of the city companies, of which there are ninety. one. The first twelve that stand on the list are called the Chief, or Twelve Great Companies, viz., Mercers, Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths, Skinners, Merchant-Taylors, Haberdashers, Salters, Ironmongers, Vintners, and Clothworkers, and are sometimes styled "TheHonourable." The less important ones have the title of " Worshipful." Nearly fifty of the companies have halls, some of which are remarkable as buildings, and others for their curiosities and paintings; most of them have " clerks," or solicitors, with, offices on the premises, who have the custody of the Company's records, and transact its legal business. Several of these Companies attend the lord mayor on his inauguration, in their livery gowns, with banners, streamers, music, &c., and on the water, conveyed in elegant state barges, concluding the ceremonies of the procession with splendid dinners at their respective halls. The freedom of the city is obtained by apprenticeship to a freeman; by redemption, fine, or ransom; and by gift of the corporation; to be a liveryman, however, it is necessary to be free of one of the incorporated companies.

The Guildhall, or common hall of the corporation of London,'where all their courts, meetings, and festivals are held, is situated at the upper end of King-street, Cheapside, and comprises numerous buildings and apartments. It was originally erected by subscription, in 1411, prior to which period the corporation meetings (as before stated) were held in a small structure in Aldermanbury. This edifice, having been greatly damaged by the fire in 1666, the present pile was formed from such parts as remained, excepting the new front facing King-street, which, with several additions and repairs, was completed in 1789. The hall is a very noble room, being one hundred and fifty-three feet long, forty-five broad, and fifty-five feet high; the ceiling, since the fire, has been, made flat and panelled. Two magnificent windows of stained glass diffuse over the whole a strong but mellowed light: in the eastern window, which is at the upper end of the hall, are emblazoned the arms of England; and in the western those of the corporation of London. The sides of the hall are decorated with blank Gothic arches and panelling, besides large marble monuments erected to the memory of the Earl of Chatham j his son, the late Rt. Hon. William Pitt; Admiral Lord Nelson; and the spirited lord mayor, William Beckford. The magnitude and grandeur of the hall may be estimated from the fact that it is capable of holding six or seven thousand persons, and actually accommodated that number at the great feast given to the allied sovereigns in 1814. The giants in guildhall are two immense figures, carved in wood, supposed to represent an ancient Briton and a Saxon. Of the apartments in the rear of the hall, appropriated to the use of the corporation, the principal is the council-chamber, a large room, the ceiling of which forms a dome, with a sky-light in its centre. In this room the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council, hold their courts, or city pr ^iamenl.i. It is decorated with a collection of paintings, most of which were presented to the city of London by the publicspirited Alderman Boydell; and at Ue upp-r end, immediately behind the chair of the lord rcr/o , upon a pedestal of white marble, stands a statue o.'George III, The chamberlain's apartment is elegantly decorated with framed and glazed copies, richly and beautifully illuminated on vellum, of the numerous votes of thanks from the corporation, to the heroes who signalized themselves in the late wars. The court of Aldermen hold their meetings in the Old Council-Chamber, the ceiling of which is highly decorated. Over the entrance in the front of the hall a library of works relative to the history of London and the counties immediately adjoining, has been recently formed, and is already of considerable extent. The courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Commissioners of Bankrupts, formerly situated at the back of the hall, now occupy the site of the ancient guildhall, chapel, and Blackwell hall; and near the same spot is the Court of Requests, the Irish Chamber, and other offices of the corporation, forming a mass of convenient though not very elegant buildings.

Mansion House. This building was finished in 1753, at an expense of £42,638. 18. 8., as a residence for the chief magistrate, who before had no suitable dwelling in which to exercise the duties and maintain the state arid dignity of his office. It stands on the site of the Stocks market, at the western end of Lombard- street, and in the most central part of the city, and is a spacious and stately edifice, constructed entirely of Portland stone, but of rather ponderous aspect. In front is a fine portico, composed of six large fluted Corinthian columns, which rise from a massive rustic basement, and are surmounted by a pediment, the tympanum of which exhibits a good piece of sculpture by Taylor, emblematic of the dignity and opulence of the city of London, and the various virtues by which they have been established and maintained. In the centre of the basement story, under the portico, is the gateway leading to the kitchens and offices, and a double flight of steps leads over this story to the grand entrance beneath the portico. A stone balustrade encloses these steps, and is continued along the whole length of the front. The body of the building presents two tiers of lofty windows, and over these, and above the portico, is an attic story surmounted by a balustrade; the cornices are rich and deep, and supported by Corinthian pilasters. These parts, in themselves elegant and complete, have been universally allowed to be deformed by a supplementary piece of building (formerly two) raised on the top contrary to the architect's wish, to give a loftier ceiling to a ballroom, and from which he has derived unmerited censure. The interior is arranged with taste and judgment, possessing, amongst other state apartments, a magnificent banquet-room, called "The Egyptian Hall," ninety feet long, the whole width of the mansion, and sixty feet broad, with a lofty and richly-ornamented concave roof; a ball-room; a withdrawing-room; and a state chamber, containing a magnificent state bed.

COURTS OF LAW, &c.

The Lord Mayor's Court is held in the King's Esnch, Guildhall, by the lord mayor, recorder, and aldermen, for actions of debt and trespass, for appeals from inferior courts, and for foreign attachments; giving decisions in all cases whatsoever, in fourteen days, at an expense not exceeding thirty shillings. The Court of Hustings is the ancient and supreme court of the city, for pleas of land, and common pleas. The sheriffs hold courts of record, every Wednesday and Friday, for actions entered at Giltspur-street Compter; and on Thursday and Saturday for actions entered at the Poultry Coropier, which are for debt, trespasses, accounts, covenant- breaking, attachments, and sequestrations, to any amount, The sheriffs, or their deputies, may sit with the judges of these courts upon trials, if they please. The Court of Requests and of Conscience formerly took cognizance of no cause above 40s., but now extends to all debts under £ 5; the'process is by summons; and if the party do not appear, the commissioners have power, after judgment is obtained, to apprehend and commit: the commissioners examine the witnesses on oath, and according to their own. judgment pronounce a verdict, from which there is no appeal. The Court of Lord Mayor and Aldermen appoints monthly such aldermen and commoners for commissioners as they think fit; and these, or any three of them, compose a court, held on Wednesday and Saturday, from 12 till 2 o'clock, in the new court-room near guildhall. The other city courts are- The Chamberlain's Court, held every day, to determine differences between masters and apprentices, and to admit such persons as are duly qualified to 'the freedom of the city. The Court of Orphans, held before the lord mayor and aldermen, as guardians of the children of deceased freemen under twenty-one years of age. The Pie Powder Court, held only during the continuance of Bartholomew fair. A Court of Conservancy, held by the lord mayor and aldermen four times a year, as before stated. A Court of Petty Session, for small offences, held daily at the Mansion House in the forenoon, by the lord mayor and one alderman, and daily at guildhall, by two aldermen in rotation. The Coroner's Court, to enquire into the causes of sudden death j and the Court of the Tower of London, held within the verge of the city, by a steward, appointed by the Constable of the Tower, by whom are tried actions of debt, trespass, and. covenants.

The exercise of its own military government is one of the peculiar privileges possessed by the city of London from the earliest times; its forces formerly consisted of what were termed the trained bands, but now of two regiments of militia, raised, according to an act of parliament passed in 1794, by ballot, and consisting of two thousand two hundred men. The officers are appointed by the commissioners of the king's lieutenancy for the city of London, of whom the lord mayor is the principal; and one regiment may, in certain cases, be placed by the king under any of his general officers, and marched to any place not exceeding twelve miles from the capital, or to the nearest encampment; the other being, at all such times, to remain in the city. With regard to the general civil government of London, it must be observed, that the suburbs in Middlesex are under the jurisdiction of the justices of the peace for the county, as part of the county. The county hall for Middlesex is on Clerkenwell-green; and at the sessions there, great part of the civil government of the suburbs in Middlesex is exercised. At the sessions-house in the Old Bailey, four general sessions of Oyer and Terminer are held, and four others by adjournment, (so that there are eight sessions every year,) for crime committed in London, or the county of Middlesex. Over this court one of the twelve judges, the lord mayor, the aldermen who have passed the civic chair, and the recorder, or common serjeant, preside. Both the sheriffs officially attend; the juries are composed of citizens, for offences committed in the city; and of house-keepers in Middlesex, for those committed in the county: the grand jury sits at the sessionshouse on Clerkenwell-green.

The government of Westminster, until the Reformation, was arbitrary under the abbot and monks; then under a bishop, dean and chapter, and subsequently, by an act passed in the 27th of Elizabeth, the civil government was placed in the hands of the laity, the dean being, at the same time, empowered to nominate the chief officers; the principal magistrates are, a high steward, usually a nobleman, the office being generally held for life; a high bailiff, chosen by the high steward, also for life, and who has the chief management of parliamentary elections for Westminster, as well as the control of all the other bailiffs; he summons juries, and in the courts leet sits next to the deputy steward. To him all fines and forfeitures belong, which renders the situation very lucrative, and occasions a considerable sum to be given for it. Besides these, there are sixteen burgesses and their assistants, whose functions in all respects resemble those of the aldermen's deputies of the city of London, each having his proper ward under his jurisdiction; and from these are elected two head burgesses, one for the city, and the other for the liberties, who in the court leet rank next to the high bailiff. There is also a high constable, who is chosen by the court leet, and to whom all the other constables are subordinate. The four principal courts for the city and liberties of Westminster are, the Court of the Duchy of Lancaster, held in Somerset-place; the Court of Quarter Sessions of the peace, held by the justices for the city and liberties, four times a year, at the guildhall, Westminster; St. Martin's-le-Grand Court and the Westminster Court, or court-leet. The three first are courts of record; the duchy court being for all matters of law and equity relating to the duchy of Lancaster j that of quarter sessions, for all trespasses, petty larcenies, and other minor offences committed in Westminster and its liberties; that of St. Martin's-le-Grand, for the trial of all 'personal actions appertaining to that particular liberty; and the court leet, which is held by the Dean of Westminster, or his deputy, for choosing parochial officers, preventing and removing nuisances, &c. The city and liberties of Westminster return two members to parliament, who are elected by the inhabitant householders; the high bailiff being the returning officer.

Southwark was governed by its own bailiffs until 1327; but the city suffering great inconvenience from the number of malefactors that escaped thither from the jurisdiction of the city magistrates, the mayor of London was then, by charter, constituted bailiff of Southwark, and empowered to govern it by his deputy. Edward VI. granted the "Borough, or Town of Southwark" to the city of London, for a pecuniary consideration, and afterwards, for a further consideration of the same kind, it was made a twenty-sixth ward to the city, by the name of Bridge ward Without. It became, in consequence, subject to the lord mayor, who has under him a steward and a bailiff, the former of whom holds a court of record every Monday at St. Margaret's hill, for debts, damages, and trespasses. Here is also a court of record for the Clink liberty, held near Bankside, in Southwark, by the Bishop of Winchester's steward, for actions of debt, trespass, &c., within that liberty; The Borough returns two members to parliament, who are chosen by the inhabitant householders, and returned by the high bailiff.

For the Suburbs there are three principal courts, viz., the Sheriffs' Court for the county of Middlesex, for actions of debt, trespass, assault, &c.; East Smithfield Court, which is a court leet and a court baron held for that liberty, to inquire into nuisances, &c.: in the court baron pleas are held to the amount of 40s. General and Quarter Sessions of the peace, for the liberty of the Tower of London, are held by the justices of that liberty, eight times a year, for petty larcenies, trespasses, felonies, misdemeanours, &c. A Court of Requests is held for the Tower Hamlets, for the recovery of debts under 40s.

In the metropolis are also held the four great law courts of the kingdom, viz., The King's Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, and High Court of Chancery. The two first are held alternately at Westminster hall and at Guildhall in the city; the Exchequer court at Westminster hall only; and the Court of Chancery alternately at Westminster hall and Lincoln's Inn, where causes are hear'd by the chancellor or vice-chancellor. There is also the Rolls' Court, held by the Master of the Rolls in the Rolls' chapel, Chancery-lane. Civil and ecclesiastical causes are tried at Doctors' Commons, at which place are also held the Courts of Admiralty. The ecclesiastical courts are, The Court of Arches, for appeals from inferior ecclesiastical courts in the province of Canterbury, of which the Court of Peculiars here is a branch; the Prerogative Court, for caxises relative to wills and administrations; the Faculty Court, empowered to grant dispensations to marry, &c.; and the Court of Delegates, for ecclesiastical affairs.

London also contains, besides the courts already described, the following; The Palace Court, or Marshalsea, held formerly at the Old Court-house in the Borough, but now in Scotland-yard, opposite the Admiralty; it has jurisdiction of all civil suits within twelve miles of Whitehall, the city of London excepted, and takes cognizance of debts to any amount above 40s., but all actions for debts above £20 may be removed into any of the superior courts. The High Court of Admiralty, Doctors' Commons, which takes cognizance of all maritime pleas, criminal and civil, the latter being determined according to the civil law, the plaintiff giving security to prosecute, and, if cast, to pay what is adjudged; but the former, being tried by special commission, at the sessions-house in the Old Bailey, by a judge and jury, a judge of the common law assists. A Court for the relief of Insolvent Debtors, instituted a few years since, by act of parliament, for the purpose of releasing debtors in England and Wales, who have been imprisoned and apply by petition to be liberated, upon surrendering their effects to their creditors; the commissioners, who preside as judges, hold their sittings at a newly-erected court-house, in Portugal-street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. Courts of Request for the summary recovery of debts not exceeding 40s. are situated in various parts of the town; there is one in Vine-street, Piccadilly; one in Kingsgate-street, Holborn; another in Trinity-street,near Stones-end, Borough; one in Osbourne-street, Whitechapel; one in Castle-street, Leicester-square; and one in Bowling-Green-lane, Southwark.

PRISONS, AND POLICE OF THE METROPOLIS.

The prisons for criminals are, Newgate, Cold-bathfields, the Penitentiary at Millbank, New Prison (Clerkenwell), Tothill-fields bridewell, and the gaol for the county of Surrey, Southwark. The prisons for debtors are, Giltspur-street Compter, Debtors' prison- (White Cross-street), the King's Bench, the Fleet, the Marshalsea, and the Borough Compter. Of these the majority are extensive, and, in several instances, though gloomy, not inelegant piles of building: Newgate, the general criminal prison for the city of London and the county of Middlesex, may be particularly mentioned as being such. It is of stone, divided within into several court-yards, and possesses a handsome uniform front towards the west, consisting of two wings, with the governor's house forming the centre. Criminals are executed on a temporary scaffold fixed in front of this prison.

The city of London, as already stated, is under the control of its own magistracy, consisting of the lord mayor and aldermen, &c.; the marshalmen, beadles, and constables, amount to three hundred and nineteen; and the watchmen and patrols to eight hundred and three; in the Tower hamlets, including the eastern part of the town, are two hundred and eighteen constables, and two hundred and eight watchmen and patrols; and in the liberty .of the Tower of London are seventeen constables, and fourteen watchmen and patrols; for all the parts of the metropolis out of this jurisdiction stipendiary magistrates are appointed; four at Bow-street, with a jurisdiction long established, and twenty-four by virtue of a statute called the "Police Act," the latter having eight different offices assigned to them, namely, one in each of the following situations: Bow-street; Great Marlborough- street; Hatton Garden; Worship-street, Shoreditch; Lambeth-street, Whitechapel; High-street, Maryle- bone Queen's square, Westminster; and Union-street, Southwark. Besides these, there is the Thames Police Office, Wapping, established under a separate act of parliament, and almost wholly confined to the investigation of offences either committed on the river Thames, or connected with maritime affairs. Bow-street office is the most celebrated, being the chief, or head, of the London police, and wholly under the direction of the Secretary of State for the Home Department. This office has a principal, and three subordinate, magistrates, all of them in the commission of the peace for the counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, and Essex; to it are attached three clerks and eight officers, with their attendants.

By the new police act the whole of the metropolis, exclusively of that part immediately denominated " the City and Liberties," is consolidated into one district, called "The Metropolitan Police district," and is not intended to interfere in any way with the police before noticed, but has been established with a view to the better security of the persons and property of the inhabitants, and to supersede the inefficient local police, previously existing in the several parishes within the district; which has been formed into seventeen divisions, comprising the whole of the metropolis, and extends eastward to Stratford, Poplar, and Greenwich; southward to Streatham, Tooting, and Wandsworth; westward to Acton, Baling, and Brentford; and northward to Hampstead, Islington, Newington, and Hackney. Each of the divisions is under the charge of a superior officer, named a superintendent of police, who is considered responsible for the activity and good conduct of the men acting within his division; the total amount of force is three thousand three hundred. They are divided into four classes;-the superintendent above-mentioned, with a salary of £200 per annum; the inspector, at a salary of s£100 per annum; the police serjeant, paid at the rate of £1. 2. 6., and the ordinary police constable, at'19*., per week: each division has one superintendent, six inspectors, and twenty-two Serjeants, except the letter K. division, which has thirtytwo Serjeants; the men are provided with a plain blue uniform. Two magistrates, or commissioners, with salaries of £ 800 per annum each, control, with the approbation of the secretary of state, the whole metropolitan police force, for which a new police office has been established at Westminster, and they have the power, not only of regulating all matters respecting arms, accoutrements, &c., but of discharging any person who acts improperly; besides whom there is a general receiver, or treasurer, with a salary of £700 per annum. All appointments to the higher stations in the police are confined to those men who have distinguished themselves by good conduct in the lower ranks; they must be of vigorous constitution, not above thirty-five years old (excepting such as have served in the army), nor under five feet seven inches in height j and as the amount of pay is deemed sufficient for a comfortable livelihood, they are required to devote their whole time to the service, without exhausting themselves by other labour. The annual expense of the establishment, which is defrayed by rates chargeable on the several parishes and places where they act, is about £200,000.

INNS OF COURT, and COURTS OF JUDICATURE.

The London Inns of Court were originally like colleges in a university, but confined to the study of the law. Though their origin cannot be exactly ascertained, they may be presumed to have owed their rise to the establishment of the courts of justice at Westminster, by Henry III., which, collecting in their neighbourhood the whole body of common lawyers, or practitioners, in those courts, they began to form themselves into a society (supposed at Thaives Inn, Holborn,) in a collegiate manner; hence their place of residence was denominated an Inn (Hostell), or House of Court; and the king, in 1244, forbade the teaching of law in schools set up in the city, as had been accustomed, and restricted its study to these inns. Their increase, as well as division into Inns of Court and Inns of Chancery, is not recognized till the reign of Edward III., when their students are called apprentices of the law (from the Fr. Apprendre), and the Inns of Court became appropriated solely to the study of the common law, as were the latter to such clerks as studied the forming of writs and other process in chancery.. Till late in the seventeenth century, the students of the various inns were exercised before the principals in sham pleadings, called mootings, and many antiquated customs were retained, as well as occasionally splendid ceremonies exhibited. At present these inns have become mere residences, not for lawyers only, but any persons who choose to hire chambers in them; and the law-student, before being called to the bar, is now only obliged to be entered of one of these places, and dine in the common hall a certain number of terms; after which, should his admission not be objected to by the members, an occurrence that rarely happens, he is legally qualified to plead and conduct causes. The Inns of Court are not incorporated, consequently the masters, principals, benchers, &c., by whom they are governed, can make no by-laws, nor possess estates, &c.; yet they have certain orders which, by consent and prescription, have obtained the force of laws; the societies are entirely supported by sums paid for admissions and for chambers; and from the benchers, or seniors, in whom the government is vested, a treasurer is usually chosen to manage these funds; the other members may be divided into outer barristers, inner barristers, and students.

The principal Inns of Court are four:-The Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn, and Gray's Inn; the Inns of Chancery are seven, viz., Clifford's Inn, Lyon's Inn, Clement's Inn, and New Inn, belonging to the two Temples; Furnival's Inn, belonging to Lincoln's Inn; and Staples Inn, and Bernard's Inn, belonging to Gray's Inn. Thavies Inn, Scroop's Inn, Chester Inn, or Strand Inn, as well as Johnson's Inn, and some others in the city, have long been disused. Of the two Serjeant's Inns, in Fleet-street and Chancery-lane, the latter only is appropriated as chambers for the Serjeants at law, who removed thither from Symond's Inn, which is falling to decay, and merely tenanted as chambers by any one who chooses to rent them. Serjeant's Inn, Fleet-street, consists now of private residences.

THE TEMPLE is so called from its original inhabitants, the Knights Templars, who, on quitting their old house in Southampton-buildings, Holborn, in the reign of Henry II., built a house in Fleet-street, thence called the New Temple, which occupied all the ground from White Friars to Essex-street. On their suppression by Edward II., the Temple, after two or three intermediate grants from the Crown, was, by Edward III., given to the monastery of St. John of Jerusalem, the prior and convent of which afterwards demised it to the lawyers, supposed to have emigrated here from Thavies Inn, at a yearly rent of £ 10, a sum for which they still enjoy from the Crown the whole of this splendid property. The Temple is at present divided between the two societies-the Inner and Middle Templers, each consisting of benchers, barristers, and students, the government being vested in the benchers. In term-time the members dine in the hall of the society, which is called keeping commons; to dine a fortnight in each term, is deemed keeping the term, and twelve of those terms qualify a student, after being called to the bar, to plead and manage causes in the courts: each society has also a treasurer, sub-treasurer, steward, chief butler, three under-butlers, upper and under cook, and various other officers and servants. The Temple Church is the chief architectural attraction belonging to these societies, though each has also a fine large hall, and an extensive library, as well as beautiful gardens: the garden of the Inner Temple affords a remarkably fine summer promenade. The houses are generally large plain brick edifices, divided into sets of chambers, most of which are spacious apartments.

Lincoln's Inn occupies, with its gardens and squares, a very extensive plot of ground on the western side of Chancery-lane. It has a fine ancient brick gateway opening from Chancery-lane, built by Sir Thomas Lovel in the reign of Henry VII.; a hall erected by the same person, wherein the Lord Chancellor holds his sittings; and a chapel built by Inigo Jones, in the English style of architecture. The buildings occupy four large squares, exclusively of the avenues to them, &c.; and the garden affords a most agreeable promenade.

Gray's Inn is chiefly remarkable for its large and beautiful garden. The buildings consist principally of two quadrangles, separated by a hall and chapel, and two handsome ranges of building recently erected, called Verulam and Raymond buildings; the chambers and regulations of both these last inns are similar to those of the Temple. Most of the other inns consist of double courts, surrounded by large brick buildings divided into chambers; all of them have halls, and several have good libraries and gardens. The finest, in point of architecture, is Furnival's Inn, sitxiated in Holborn, which has been lately rebuilt in an excellent style, and forms a large and beautiful pile of buildings.

The four great courts of Judicature are, the High Court of Chancery, the Court of Exchequer, the Court of King's Bench, and the Court of Common Pleas, held in Westminster Hall. The rooms in which the business of these courts is transacted are situated on the western side of the great hall, and have been elegantly fitted up by Mr. Soane. This was the great hall of the ancient palace of Westminster, and is celebrated as the scene of many important events in English history: the first hall was founded by William Rufus, but the present edifice was for the most part erected by Richard II. The grand entrance is flanked by large square embattled towers, richly ornamented with canopies, once containing statues, in rows above each other. Westminster Hall is considered to be the largest apartment in Europe unsupported by pillars, being two hundred and seventy feet long, seventy-four broad, and ninety high; the floor is of stone; and the side walls and ends are pierced with elegant windows,;the latter being of vast magnitude and highly-elaborate workmanship. The roof has always excited particular admiration; it is of chesnut, forming an immense arch, supported by carved angels bearing shields of the founder's arms. Parliaments were anciently held in this hall, and it was the court of justice in which the sovereign presided in person. The coronation feasts have been held here for many ages past, and it is also occasionally used for the trial of peers, or other persons impeached by the commons.

GOVERNMENT OFFICES and other PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

The offices more immediately connected with the affairs of government occupy a grand line of buildings, stretching entirely across the eastern extremity of St. James' Park, from Spring Gardens to Downing-street. The most northern is the Admiralty; next is the War Office, or Horse Guards; then the Treasury; lastly, the offices of the three Secretaries of State.

The War Office, or Horse Guards, derives ,its latter appellation from the circumstance of that branch of the military mounting guard here. It is a noble, though rather heavy building, erected by Ware, at an expense of more than £30,000. A handsome portal leads through it from St. James' Park into Parliamentstreet. Here, in a variety of apartments, is transacted all business relative to the British army. The Admiralty and Treasury are both fine buildings; the former, originally called Wallingford House, and facing Parliament - street, has a beautiful screen by Adams, which, with its spacious portico, renders it on the whole a commanding pile; the Lords of the Admiralty have here their offices, together with spacious private apartments; on the top of the building is a semaphore telegraph, which communicates orders, by signal, to the principal parts of the kingdom. The Treasury is an extensive pile of buildings, partly formed out of the remains of Whitehall palace; the principal front, which is of stone, looks into St. James' Park, that next Parliament-street has been rebuilt in a splendid style by Mr. Soane. Besides the Board of Treasury, this edifice contains a variety of offices, amongst which is the Council Chamber. The buildings of the other government offices situated in the immediate vicinity of the above, and which consist, 'of the offices of the Secretaries of State, the Board of Control for the affairs of India, the offices of the Crown Lands, and of the Board of Works, &c., have nothing in them particularly worthy of notice.

Somerset House, the most noble collection of the Government offices in London, derives its name from being built on the site of the magnificent palace erected by the Protector Somerset, in the reign of Edward VI. After being for several ages occasionally inhabited by the queens of England, it was rebuilt, as it now stands, under the superintendence of Sir William Chambers, in 1775. It comprises the Navy Office, Navy Pay Office, Salt Office, Stamp Office, the Offices of the Auditor of the Exchequer, those of the Chancellors of the duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster, the Hawkers' and Pedlars' Office, Stage-coach Office, Legacy-duty Office, and the whole revenue establishment of the Tax Offices: all these are situated in the quadrangle which forms the main body of the pile. The beautiful front next the Strand has been munificently devoted to the use of the Royal Society, the Society of Antiquaries, and the Royal Academy of Arts. Somerset House occupies a space of about eight hundred feet in width, and five hundred in depth; and for magnitude, as well as architectural merit, ranks among the foremost of the public buildings in London. The magnificent Strand front, the extensive quadrangular court, the yet grander front next the Thames, with its terrace, one of the finest in the world, all combine, with the numerous spacious apartments and offices it contains, to excite admiration. The buildings of the King's College, just founded, under the patronage of His late Majesty, for the purpose of giving instruction to youth in the metropolis, are to form the eastern wing of the south front of this edifice, which, without it, was incomplete: this design is actively being carried into execution.

Tower of London. " The Tower," as it is familiarly called, stands on the northern bank of the Thames, and consists of a large pile of building, the irregularity of which arises from its having been erected and enlarged by various sovereigns, at distant periods of time: it served the purpose of a fortified palace to many of the early monarchs of England. Tradition ascribes the origin of this fortress to Julius Csesar, but the earliest authentic account of it is, that William the Conqueror, having no great reliance on the fidelity of his new subjects of London, on fixing his residence in the metropolis, built a strong hold to overawe them, on part of the present site of the Tower. In 1078, he appointed Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, a skilful architect, to superintend the building of a larger fort, being the same,, though repaired or rebuilt by some of his successors, which is now called the White Tower. It is situated in the centre of the fortress, and is a square building with four watchtowers, one of which is used as an observatory; this part of the building contains, besides a small armoury for the sea service, an ancient Norman chapel, dedicated to St. John, in which the Icings and queens who resided here performed their devotions: it is of an oblong form, circular at the east end, and supported by short round pillars; in this place the ancient records of the kingdom are now kept in presses. In 1082, William Rufus laid the foundations of a castle southward and near to the river, which was finished by his successor, Henry I.: beneath it were two gates, one called Traitor's gate, through which state prisoners were conveyed to their cells, the other bearing the name of the Bloody gate. Henry III. added a strong gate and bulwark to the west entrance, repaired and whitened the square tower, which probably gave it the name it still retains; and extended the fortress by a mud wall, which was superseded by one of brick by Edward IV., who built within this enclosure the present Lions'tower. Charles II. and the succeeding sovereigns down to His late Majesty George IV., have made various additions and alterations within the area enclosed .by the ancient fortifications; the exterior walls of the tower now include an area of twelve acres and five roods. The exterior circuit of the ditch, which entirely surrounds it, is three thousand one hundred and fifty-six feet: it is separated from the Thames by a broad quay, behind which is a platform for mounting sixty-one .pieces of cannon, which are brought out and fired on all occasions of public rejoicing. The principal entrance is by three successive gates on the western side, two of which are outside the ditch; the second gate, on entering, leads to a stone bridge thrown across the ditch; and the third, which is the strongest, stands at the inner end of the bridge: this is guarded by soldiers; and when these gates are opened in the morning, the formalities of a garrison are observed. The interior, which forms a parish within itself, but subject to the visitation of the Bishop of London, contains several streets, and a variety of buildings, including the Tower parish church, or Royal Free Chapel of St. Peter ad Fincula; the White Tower, the Ordnance Office, the Record Office, the Jewel Office, the Horse Armoury, the Grand Storehouse, the new or small Armoury, houses belonging to the officers of the Toy;ev, barracks for the garrison, and two suttlmg- houses, commonly used by the officers of the garrison. Several of the public buildings just mentioned are of great interest, and others contain numerous curiosities well worthy of inspection, particularly the Horse Armoury, the small Armoury, the room where the spoils of the Spanish Armada are kept, the Menagerie, and the Jewel Office, in. which are kept the crowns and other regalia, used at coronations. The government is entrusted to a Constable, who is generally a person of high rank; under his command are a lieutenant and a deputy-lieutenant, the latter being called the governor, with several other subordinate officers, besides forty wardens, who bear the same rich antique uniform worn by the corps at its formation by Henry VII.: the Tower is garrisoned by His Majesty's household troops.

The Mint, originally situated within the limits of the Tower, and the business of which was afterwards for some time carried on at Soho, near Birmingham, now stands at the north-eastern corner of Tower Hill, on the site of the old Victualling-Office. It is a noble building, from a design by Mr. Smirke, Jun., having an extensive stone front, it consists of a ground floor and two stories above, the whole surmoxuited by a handsome balustrade. The wings are ornamented with pilasters; and in the centre are several demi-columns, over which is a pediment bearing the arms of England: over the porch is a gallery with balustrades, &c., of the Doric order. This extensive establishment contains steam-engines, and all the numerous mechanical works for facilitating the operations of the coinage.

BRIDGES.

The bridges which unite the southern with the northern part of the metropolis are remarkable for their architecture, magnitude and solidity.

London Bridge, the most ancient of them all, was the only bridge connecting the Middlesex and Surrey shores of the capital until the eighteenth century, and may be regarded as the limit which separates the sea and river navigation of the Thames. It was founded in 1176, and originally supported a street of houses, with a chapel, entrance gate-ways, &c., which remained, with various alterations, until the year 1756, when it was cleared of the whole of its buildings, thoroughly repaired, and surmounted, as at present, by an open balustrade and lamps. In consequence of the inconvenience and danger to the navigation of the Thames by this bridge, it was determined to erect a new one.

The New London Bridge was begun March 15th, 1824, under the superintendence of Mr. Rennie, the architect; and, according to contract, was to be finished, for the sum of £506,000, in six years from that period, which sum was not to include the formation of approaches, nor the expense of removing the old bridge. The work is now nearly completed, and will be entirely finished early in the year 1831; it is built of granite; the number of its noble arches is five; and, when completed, the sides will be guarded by plain balustrades. The approaches at both ends are to be carried over arches, and will communicate with spacious streets; that next the Borough, from exposing to the view the whole of St. Saviour's church, will, in particular, give to the southern approach a rovel and wonderful dignity.

Southwarh Bridge is a magnificent structure of cast-iron, with stone piers and abutments, forming a communication from the central part of the city to Bankside, Southwark, and thence to the roads leading into Kent and Surrey; it was designed by Mr. Rennie, and consists of three arches; the centre arch rises twenty-four feet, with a span of two hundred and forty feet, the span of each of the side arches being two hundred and ten feet: the whole was completed in March, 1819, at an expense, including the approaches, of £800,000, being one of the most stupendous works of the kind ever formed of such materials. Many of the solid castings weigh ten tons each, and the total weight of the iron employed is about five thousand seven hundred and eighty tons. The abutments are of solid masonry, laid in radiating courses, with large blocks of Bramly-fall and Whitby stones. The work was commenced on the 23rd of September, 1814, and the bridge was opened in April, 1819.

Blackfriars' Bridge was named, at the time of its foundation,"Pitt's bridge," as a testimony of the respect entertained by the citizens of London for the character and talents of that eminent statesman, William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham, whose name was accordingly inscribed on a plate laid under the foundation stone. The act of parliament empowered the corporation to raise £30,000 per annum, until the sum should amount to £ 160,000. The first stone was laid by the Lord Mayor, Sir Thomas Chitty, on the 31st of October, 1760; and in the coxirse of 1770 the work was completed; its construction having occupied nearly eleven years; the architect was Mr. Robert Mylne. The expense amounted only, to £160,000, and was defrayed by a toll for several years. The bridge has nine elliptical arches; the span of the centre arch is one hundred feet, those on each side decreasing gradually towards the shores, being respectively ninety-eight, ninety-three, eighty-three, and seventy feet wide, leaving a clear water way of seven hundred and eighty-eight feet. Each side of the bridge is guarded by an open stone balustrade, sufficiently low to allow to foot passengers a distinct prospect of the river. Over each pier there is a square recess, supported by double Ionic pillars and pilasters, which have a very light and ornamental effect: at each end of the bridge are two handsome nights of stone steps to the river.

Waterloo Bridge crosses the Thames from a little to the west of Somerset House to the opposite shore of Lambeth Marsh, uniting the Strand with the newlyformed line, or street, which extends to the Obelisk in St. George's Fields, and is regarded as one of the greatest magnificence. Of an extent larger than that of any of the other bridges over the Thames, it affords a fine level passage across the river; and, from the beauty and simplicity of the design, and its stability, it is calculated to remain a monument of architectural skill down to remote ages. The original projector was Mr. George Dodd, but, in consequence of a misunderstanding between him and the company, the execution of the work devolved on Mr. Rennie, who furnished two designs for the bridge, one having seven arches, and the other nine, the latter being adopted; the work was commenced in 1811, and completed in 1817. The bridge consists of nine elliptical arches, each of one hundred and twenty feet span, and thirty-five feet elevation: it is forty-two feet broad, being of the same width as Blackfriars' bridge; and its length is one thousand two hundred and fortytwo feet, being nineteen feet longer, within the abutments, than Westminster bridge. The arches and piers are built of large blocks of granite, the latter being twenty feet thick, and surmounted by Tuscan columns, which support square recesses above. Upon the entire work, including the approaches, a sum greatly exceeding £1,000,000 sterling was expended.

Westminster Bridge was built between the years 1739 and 1750, and cost £389,500. It is one thousand two hundred and twenty-three feet long, and forty-four wide, having on each side of the carriage way a foot pavement; and it consists of thirteen large and two small semicircular arches, with fourteen intermediate piers and abutments; on its top are. twenty-eight semi-octagonal recesses, twelve of which are covered by demi-cupolas. Under the arches is a free channel for the water, of eight hundred and seventy feet. The two middle piers contain each three thousand solid feet, or two hundred tons of Portland stone. The centre arch is seventy-six feet wide, the others diminish in width by four feet equally on each side, and the two smaller ones close in shore are eae-h about twenty-five feet wide. The whole edifice is of stone, and rests upon a gravel bed, the piers having been sunk for that purpose to from five to fourteen feet under the bed of the river. At the period of its erection this bridge was esteemed one of the noblest structures of the kind in the world; its architect was M. Labylie, an ingenious native of Switzerland; although not a century old, like that of Blackfriars, it exhibits evident marks of decay, from the decomposition of the stone of which it is constructed.

Vauxhall Bridge communicating with a new road across Tothill-fields, to Eaton-street, Pinalico, and Grosvenor- place, was commenced in the year 1813, and in August 1816 the bridge was completed and opened to the public; the architect was Mr. J. Walker. Although in magnitude and grandeur of proportions this bridge does not equal any one of the preceding, yet it merits praise for beauty and elegance. It is light and elegant, consisting of nine arches of cast-iron, each of seventyeight feet span, having between eleven and twelve feet rise, and resting on rusticated stone piers laid with Roman cement. The breadth of the roadway is thirtysix feet, and the whole length of the bridge is eight hundred and nine feet: the cost was above £300,000. This bridge, as well as Southwark and Waterloo bridges, was erected by an incorporated company of share holders, who are authorised to levy a toll, that on foot passengers, being one penny each.

A bill has been recently brought into parliament for building a seventh bridge across the Thames at London, from the Horse-ferry road to Lambeth stairs, to be called the Royal Clarence bridge.

THAMES TUNNEL.

The idea of forming a subway under the bed of the Thames, to connect Rotherhithe with the opposite shore at Old Gravel lane, Wapping, was revived by Mr. Brunei, in 1824, a similar attempt having been made in 1800, upon a much smaller scale; and, though the project was then relinquished, yet the miners having extended their operations to within one hundred and thirty feet of the opposite shore, was thought sufficient encouragement for the present undertaking; accordingly, the sum of £200,000 was raised by transferable shares of £50 each, and the work was begun in March, 1825. Mr. Brunei's plan was, by means of frame-work, to excavate daily only such a space as could be immediately supported by brick arching, and a very considerable progress was made, with great promise of ultimate success, during several months; in the end, however, a similar accident to that which occasioned the abandonment of the former undertaking, but much more fatal in its effects, caused Mr. Brunei's attempt, like his predecessor's, to be suspended, and the excavation, after a great expenditure of money, and the loss of several lives, is for the present discontinued. The tunnel, if completed, was to have consisted of two arcades, lighted by gas, forming distinct ways for going and returning, and each containing a roadway and footway; the form of the arcades was to be cylindrical, about fifteen feet high, by twelve at their base, the two ways, with a separation wall of four feet, making twenty-eight feet breadth; the whole mass of masonry extending in breadth and height thirty seven feet by twenty-two.

ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION.

At what precise period London was constituted the head of a diocese, is uncertain, but it is evident that it acquired this distinction not long after the introduc- tion of Christianity into Britain. It appears to have been at first an archbishop- rick, but after the metropolitical power was transfered to Canterbury, in consequence of the conversion to Christianity of Ethelbert, King of Kent, by Augustine, London sunk into a bishop- rick, and Mellitus was made the first bishop, in 604. The diocese was co-extensive with the ancient kingdom of the East Saxons, comprehending the counties of Middlesex and Essex, and part of Hertfordshire, to which have been added the British plantations in Ame- rica. Though locally in the province of Canterbury, it is exempt from the visitation of the Archbishop; and the Bishop of London enjoys precedence over all the other bishops, ranking in dignity next to the Arch- bishop of York. The ecclesaiastical establishment is composed of a bishop, dean, precentor, chancellor, treasurer, five archdeacons, thirty prebendaries (three of whom are residentiary, and, with the dean, constitute the chapter), twelve petty or minor canons, six vicars choral, a sub-dean, and inferior officers. The twelve petty canons were incorporated a body politic, in 1899 byy letters patent of Richard II.; they are governed by a warden, chosen from among themselves, and have a common seal.

PARISHES IN LONDON, WESTMINSTER, SOUTHWARK, &c.

Parishes marked thus * are within the jurisdiction of the Archdeacon of London; and those marked thus t are subject to the Commissary of London, for granting probates of wills and letters of administration; the Bishop of London exercising concurrent jurisdiction over all. Parishes marked thus * are within the peculiar jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and those marked thus $ in that of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's.

CITY OF LONDON WITHIN THE WALLS.

a Christchurch was formerly a part of St. Saviour'e parish, but the inhabitants have lost, through disuse, the right to vote at elections for the borough. The parish extends into the East division of the hundred of Brixton; but the entire population is given above.

b The population of the parish of St. George includes five hundred and fifteen persons in the King's Bench prison, ninetynine in the Marshalson prison, two hundred and forty-three in the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, one hundred and eighty in the Philanthropic Reform, ninety-six in the School for the Indigent Blind, sixty-seven in the Freemasons' school, eighty-three in the Magdalene Hospital, and two hundred and forty-seven in Bethlehem Hospital.

c St Olave's parish extends into the city of London.

d The return from St. Thomas' parish includes the inmates of St. Thomas' and Guy's Hospitals.

There are likewise numerous extra-parochial liberties; namely, in the City of London Without the Walls, Barnard's Inn, the population of which is returned with St. Andrew, Holborn; Bridewell Hospital and Precinct, containing, according to the last census, 443 inhabitants; Clifford's Inn, 101; Furnival's Inn, 100; Gray's Inn, 208; Lincoln's Inn, 268; Serjeant's Inn, Chancery-lane, 31; Serjeant's Inn, Fleet-street, 94; Staple Inn, 41; White Friars' Precinct, 1247; Inner Temple, 405; Middle Temple, 298: adjacent to the City of London, Old Artillery Ground Liberty, containing 1487 inhabitants; Charter-house, 144; Elyplace, 268; Norton-Falgate Liberty, 1896; Rolls Liberty, 2737; Old Tower Without (Precinct), 205; East Smithfield Liberty, 6429: in the City and Liberty of Westminster, the Close of the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, containing-181 inhabitants; and the Verge of the palaces of St. James and Whitehall, 641.

ST-PAUL'S CATHEDRAL is the chief ecclesiastical edifice of London and of the empire, and the masterpiece of its architect, Sir Christopher Wren. This magnificent structure stands on the highest and most central spot of ground in the city, nearly covering the site of the ancient 'cathedral built by Bishop Maurice, which was destroyed by the fire of 1666. It is the cathedral of the diocese of London, the deanery of which is now held with the see of Llandaff, together with a spacious house in Doctors' Commons. The commission for building a new cathedral is dated in 1673, the interval between the fire and that period having been employed in endeavouring to repair the old fabric, which was at length found impracticable. The first stone of the present structure, which was built from the third design of the architect, was laid June 21st, J 675; the walls of the choir and side aisles were finished in ten years, together with the semicircular porticoes on the north and south sides, and the last stone was laid on the top of the lantern in 1710, in the lifetime of 'the architect, by his son Christopher. This stupendous edifice, of which only a general description can here be attempted, is wholly constructed of the best Portland stone, in the form of a Latin cross, the extreme length of which is five hundred and fourteen feet, and its breadth two hundred and sixteen. The interior consists of a nave, choir, side aisles, transept, side chapels, &c. From the intersection of the cross rises a stately cupola, universally admired for its grandeur and elegant proportions, being two hundred and fifteen feet in altitude, and measuring one hundred and forty-five in diameter, and four hundred and thirty feet in circumference. From the top of this springs a lantern, adorned with large Corinthian pillars, surrounded at its base by a gallery, and terminating at the top in a superb gilt ball and cross; the height, from the floor of the church to the summit of the cross, is four hundred and four feet, and the circumference of the entire fabric is two thousand two hundred and ninety-two feet. A dwarf stone wall, supporting a massy balustrade of cast-iron, surrounds the churchyard, separating it from a spacious carriage and foot way, on the west, south, and east sides, and from a wide foot pavement on the north. The principal architectural features of the exterior are two grand semicircular porticoes at the north and south ends of the transept; the magnificent western entrance, with its campanile turrets; and the cupola, or dome. The northern and southern porticoes consist each of a semi-cupola, supported by six fluted Corinthian columns, of four feet diameter, with semicircular flights of black marble steps. The great western entrance is composed of a double story of twelve lofty Corinthian columns below, and eight of the Composite order above, supporting a grand enriched pediment crowned with a colossal figure of St. Paul, and other statues; the whole stands upon an elevated base, the ascent to which is by a flight of twenty-two square black marble steps, running the entire length of the portico. The enriched pediment represents the Conversion of St. Paul. At the extremities of this western elevation are elegant campaniles, or steeples of two stories, of light pierced workmanship, terminating in domes formed by curves of contrary flexure, like bells, and ornamented at the top with gilt pine-apples. At the eastern extremity is a circular projection, forming within a recess for the communion table. The walls are of rustic work, and strengthened and ornamented by two ranges of coupled pilasters, one above the other, the lower being Corinthian, and the upper Composite. Both the northern and southern sides hivve an air of uncommon elegance; having also richly-decorated windows and niches, scrolls, fruitage, and other suitable enrichments. The cupola, which is the most distinguish ing feature of the pile, towers in majestic proportion above the rest of the structure: it is ornamented with thirty-two columns below, and a range of attic antse above, the exterior circuit of which is flanked by a noble balustrade. The interior is of correspondent beauty, being, like the exterior, constructed in the purest style of classical architecture. It has lately been improved by the introduction of monuments and statues of British heroes, and other illustrious dead, which, being composed of the finest marbles, and generally of good design, add greatly to the rich appearance of this part of the cathedral. The interior of the grand cupola was painted by Sir James Thornhill, the designs being illustrative of some of the most remarkable occurrences in the life of St. Paul. The entire pavement, up to the altar, is of marble, chiefly consisting of square slabs, alternately black and white: the floor round the communion table is of the same kinds of murble, mingled with porphyry. The communion table is ornamented with four noble fluted pilasters, painted and veined with gold, in imitation of lapis Lazuli. The organ gallery is supported by eight Corinthian columns of blue and white marble, of exquisite beauty. The stalls in the choir arc beautifully carved by the celebrated Gibbons, and the other ornaments are of equal workmanship. There is a chapel, where divine service is performed every day, Sundays excepted, and opposite is the consistory; each of them having a magnificent screen of carved wainscot of the Corinthian order. In the crypt beneath the church, and immediately under the centre of the great dome, is the tomb of Admiral Lord Nelson. The building was erected at the national expense, and cost a million and a half of money. The iron balustrade surrounding the churchyard, which, with its seven iron gates, weighs two hundred tons, cost £11,202. 0. 6. The extent of the ground plot occupied by the edifice is two acres and sixteen perches; in the area of the west front is placed a statue of Queen Anne.

The parochial churches may, for the most part, be divided into two classes,-those built by Sir Christopher Wren, or his pupils, since the great fire, and those which escaped that calamity. Of the former, the following most deserve notice; St. Mary's-le-Bow, in Cheapside, and St. Bride's, in Fleet-street, are allowed to possess the most elegant steeples of any in London. The first is a most successful endeavour to perpetuate the origin of its additional name of De Arcxibus, or Le Bow, which arose, not only from the body being erected on arches, or a Norman crypt (which still remains), but from having a steeple, or lantern, resting on bows. This singularity is retained in the present structure, the spire of which is partly supported by flying buttresses, Corinthian columns, and an elegant circular gallery, terminating in a lofty spire; the whole being a masterly display of the five orders. The steeple of St. Bride's is of a totally different form, but equally beautiful: it consists of a series of elegant stories, diminishing in exact proportion as they ascend, and which, with the spire, originally reached the altitude of two hundred and thirtyfour feet, but it was obliged lately to be reduced, on account of its having been damaged by lightning. Other churches which are remarkable for fine or lofty steeples are St. Antholin's Watling-street; St. Dunstan's in the East; St. Magnus', London-bridge; Christ Church, New- gate-street; and St.Vedast's, Foster-lane. St. Stephen's, Walbrook, deserves the next mention to St. Paul's, on account of the unrivalled beauty of its interior. It was erected in place of the old church built in 1420, and burnt down in the great fire. The plan of this structure is original, yet simple j the elevation surprising, yet chaste and beautiful. It is a small church, in the form of a cross, being eighty-seven feet ten inches in length, and sixty-four feet ten inches in breadth. The dome, springing from the intersection, is supported by eight arches, rising from as many Corinthian columns, so disposed as to give the whole an effect of great lightness and spaciousness. Over the altar is a fine painting, by West, of the Stoning of St. Stephen.

The above-named churches are amongst the finest of the fifty built by Sir Christopher Wren after the conflagration of 1666. The following claim notice either from their architectural character, or historical interest. St. Michael's, Wood-street. This church is of the Ionic order, and was erected in 1669. The original tower has of late years been replaced by a clumsy spire. So early as the year 1359, the church was liberally endowed; and Stow asserts that the head of James IV. of Scotland was buried here, after the battle of Flodden Field. St. Mary's, Aldermanbury, having a large western tower with angular pinnacles, occupies the site of an old church refounded by Alderman Keeble, in the fifteenth century. Judge Jeffreys was buried in this church. St. Mary's at Hill, Lower Thames-street, was only partially destroyed by the great fire. This church is remarkable for containing some old and curious records, extracts from which have been published; it has a plain square brick tower. St. Vedast's, Foster-lane, besides its stone spire before-mentioned, which is very handsome and of exact symmetry, possesses an altarpiece of singular elegance. The railing before it is peculiarly rich; and the border that surrounds the nimbus, or glory, is composed for the most part of three cherubim, half immersed in clouds, and six winged infants, in the highest possible relief, one sounding two trumpets, and the others bearing palm branches, the carving being either from the chisel of Gibbons, or some successful rival of that great artist. St. Sepulchre's, Snow hill, is a spacious stone structure, modernized from the remains of the former church built in 1440, and which escaped the great fire. It has a fine groined porch, or entrance, and a lofty square tower with tall angular pinnacles, which, together with the interior, show that it must, before its modernization, have been a noble edifice of English architecture. St. Mary's Woolnoth, Lombard-street, is a fine specimen of the Tuscan order, erected by Nicholas Hawksmoor, a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren. The whole exterior is of stone, the northern elevation being decorated with large semicircular rusticated arches, and the western end having a double tower with composite columns, a balustrade, and other ornaments. The interior is a fine specimen of the most exquisite proportion, as well as of chaste decoration. St. Michael's, Cornhill, has a beautiful tower, which renders it one of the most conspicuous ornaments of the city. It is surmounted by four fine fluted turrets, and is admirably light and elegant 5 and the various orders of architecture are harmoniously combined. There is a monument to the memory of Fabian, the Chronicler, who was an alderman of London. St. Lawrence's, Jewry, was rebuilt in 1677. It is a neat edifice: the interior has lately been rendered very elegant, and contains a monument of Archbishop Tillotson. St. Peter's, Cornhill, according to an inscribed brass plate in it, was the first Christian church erected in Britain, being said to have been built by King Lucius, so early as the year 79. The present structure is plain but neat: it has a steeple of red brick, with a lofty spire terminating in a large key, the emblem of the patron saint. St. Bene't's, Paul's Wharf, was built in 1181, and rebuilt in 1682. Inigo Jones is said to have been buried in this church, but there is no record of the circumstance. St. Swithins, Cannonstreet, a small but elegant church, with a tower and spire, was built in 1680, on the site of one of very ancient, foundation. This church attracts notice from the famous "London stone" being placed in front of it. Christ Church, Newgate-street, is a spacious and elegant stone church, having a lofty tower, and is much frequented on account of the singing by the scholars of Christ's hospital, who attend divine service in it, and whose combined voices, from their great number, produce an extraordinary effect. Previously to the dissolution of monasteries, this was the site of the Grey friars' church, which was three hundred feet long, and decorated with noble monuments; the portion re-edified was only the choir of the ancient structure. St. Alban's, Wood-street, is a handsome stone edifice, with a lofty turretted tower, the interior being in good proportion, and containing a richly-ornamented altar-piece, and a pulpit finely carved. The Saxon king, Athelstan, is said to have had a palace adjoining this church, and his name, somewhat corrupted and abridged, is thought to be preserved in Addle-street, formerly called King Adel-street, running by the side of it. St. Margaret's Pattens, Rood-lane, was rebuilt in 1687. The carving of the altar-piece is by the celebrated Grinlin Gibbons. St. Michael's, Crookedlane, rebuilt in 1688. Sir William Walworth, who killed the rebel Wat Tyler, was buried in this anL cient church, where he founded a college of Priests. St. Michael's, College-hill, is celebrated as the burialplace of the famous lord mayor, Richard Whittington, who here founded a college. The ceiling, which is finely coved, is said to be the largest church ceiling in London unsupported by a single column. The tower is surmounted by a singularly beautiful turret, decorated with Corinthian columns; the altar-piece has carving by Grinlin Gibbons.

Some of the city churches which escaped the great fire are of very considerable architectural merit} and most of them contain a number of curious and interesting monuments; they are as follows;-

St. Andrew's Undershaft, Leadenhall-street, obtained its adjunct from a May-pole, or shaft, having formerly been set up every year on the first of May, which was higher than the church steeple. The style of architecture is the later English, having been rebuilt in 1522, at the expense of William Fitz-William, the founder of the noble house of Wentworth. The interior is decorated with great taste; the ceiling is adorned with angels, and the compartments over the pillar which support it painted in imitation of basso relievo. The eastern window is richly ornamented with stained 'glass, in five compartments, representing the sovereigns Edward VI., Queen Elizabeth, James I., Charles I., and Charles II. The pulpit is a fine specimen of carving. The most remarkable monument is that of John Stowe, the London historian, who is represented sitting at study. St.Helens,Bishopsgate-street. Dr.Stukeleyaffirms that this church is built on the site of one which existed in the time of the Roman dominion in Britain, and was dedicated to the Empress Helena. The present fabric was the conventual church of an adjoining priory of Benedictine nuns, part of which was appropriated to the use of the parishioners. It is chiefly remarkable for a number of ancient and curious monuments. St. James', Duke's Place, was built in the reign of James I., on the site of the priory of the Holy Trinity, at Aldgate, from the materials of the conventual buildings. St. Bartholomew's the Less, and St. Bartholomew's the Great, were both conventual churches, and are situated near Smithfield. The former, which belonged to the hospital of St. Bartholomew, has been altered and modernized so much, that it retains no ancient feature worthy of description. St. Bartholomew's the Great is a fine specimen, and the only one remaining in London, of the massive Norman architecture, the nave being supported by ponderous low round columns; the present church is only the choir of that of the priory. Both churches were founded by Rayhere, said to have been minstrel, or jester, to Henry I., who has a tomb, with his effigy, in the structure last mentioned. St. Giles', Cripplegate, was erected in 1546, on the site of the ancient church, built by Alfune, the first master of St. Bartholomew's hospital, in 1090, and burnt dowra in the year 1545; it is a light well-proportioned structure. Speed the historian, and Fox the martyrologist, were buried here. Oliver Cromwell, afterwards Protec-. tor, was married in this church.

The ecclesiastical structures without the city exhibit as great a variety in their age and construction as those within its limits. They may be divided into three classes; the churches of ancient erection; those erected in .the reign of Queen Anne and her successors; and the newly-built churches of His late Majesty's reign.

The churches of the first class are, in the City and Liberties of Westminster, the abbey church of St. Peter, St. Margaret's, St. John's the Baptist, in the Savoy, and the Temple church. In Southwark, St. Saviour's church; and in other parts of the town and suburbs, St. Pancras' and Stepney churches; to which, as next in age, though different in style, may be added St. James', Westminster, and St. Anne's, Soho. The principal churches built in the reign of Anne and her successors, George I., George II., and George III., are, St. Martin's; St. George's, Hanover-square; St. Giles' in the Fields; St. George's, Bloomsbury; St. Mary's le Strand; St. Clement Dane's; St. Paul's, Covent Garden; and St. John's the Evangelist, Milbank; all situated in Westminster, or its Liberties; St. Olave's, St. George's, St. Thomas', St. Mary's, and Bermondsey and Christ churches, situated in Southwark; and oh the northern and eastern sides of the metropolis, the churches of Bishopsgate, Spitalfields, Shoreditch, Old-street, St. James, and St. John Clerkenwell, Aldgate, Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, Limehouse, St. George in the East, Shadwell, and Wapping. The more modern churches, scattered through various parts of the metropolis and its suburbs, will be noticed hereafter.

London contains no churches of the Anglo-Saxon period, excepting small portions of Westminster abbey church, concealed from view in consequence of their subterranean situation. Of the Anglo-Norman style, St. Bartholomew's the Great, and the chapel at the White Tower, two of the finest specimens in the city, have been noticed. Those religious edifices in the Anglo-Norman style, and of later English architecture, most deserving of notice in Westminster, Southwark, and the suburbs, are the following:-

WESTMINSTER ABBEY, or, more properly, the collegiate church of St. Peter at Westminster, is ascribed to Sebert, King of the East Saxons. The neighbourhood by degrees became peopled, partly from this circumstance, and partly from the erection of a palace near it, which induced the chief nobility to erect town houses in its vicinity. Edward the Confessor rebuilt the church in 1065; and by Pope Nicholas II. it was appointed the place of inauguration for the kings of England. On the general suppression of religious houses, Henry VIII., converted the Benedictine abbey attached to this church into a college of Secular canons, under the government of a dean, and afterwards appointed a bishop, making it the head of a diocese, comprising the entire county of Middlesex, except Fulham, which was retained by the Bishop of London; but this establishment was, a few years afterwards, dissolved by Edward VI., who restored the college, which was again changed by Queen Mary into an abbey. Elizabeth put an end to that institution in 1560, and founded the present establishment, which is a college, consisting of a dean and twelve Secular canons, or prebendaries; to which she attached a school for forty scholars, called the Queen's Scholars, to be educated in the liberal sciences, preparatory to their removal to the University. Private scholars are also admitted; and some of the most illustrious characters in the kingdom have received their education here. To this establishment belong choristers, singing men, an organist, and twelve almsmen. It is imagined that a school was annexed to the abbey so long ago as the time of Edward the Confessor. The present church was built by Henry III. and his successors, and completed by the last abbot,, with the exception of the two towers at the western entrance, which are the work of Sir Christopher Wren, and the northern doorway, called 'l the beautiful gate," which was erected at the expense of the xnifortunate Bishop Atterbury. Its length is three hundred and sixty feet, the breadth of the nave seventy- two feet, and the length of the transept one hundred and ninety-five feet. Some late improvements have exposed this venerable structure to the view, by pulling down the houses on its northern side, and forming a square before it, neatly planted with low shrubs. On entering the western door, the whole body of the church presents itself at one view, terminated at the further end by the fine painted window over the portico of Henry the Seventh's chapel, and is highly impressive from its loftiness, lightness, and symmetry. The nave is separated from the choir by a screen; the choir, in the form of a semi-octagon, was formerly surrounded by eight chapels, but there are now only seven, that which was then the central chapel at present forming the porch of that of Henry VII. The roofs of the nave and transept are supported by two rows of arches, one above the other, resting on beautiful lofty clustered columns of Purbeck marble. Corresponding with the central range of pillars are demi-pillars in the side walls, which, as they rise, spring into semi-arches, and meet others opposite in acute angles; by which means the roof is thrown into a variety of segments of arches, decorated with ornamental carvings. The side aisles receive light from a middle range of windows, which, with the four large ones at the ends of the nave and the transept, give light to the whole of the main building. The great western window is splendidly painted, representing figures of the patriarchs Moses and Aaron, the arms of Edward the Confessor, those of Westminster, and other devices. The choir, one of the most beautiful in Europe, is terminated towards the east by the ancient high altar, beyond which, at a small distance, is seen the magnificent shrine of Edward the Confessor, rising from the centre of the chapel which bears his name. The pavement before the altar-table is a splendid specimen of ancient Mosaic work, and one side of the enclosure is formed by the venerable tombs and effigies of Aymer de Valence, Edward Crouchback, the monuments of King Sebert, Anne of Cleves, &c. The choir is enclosed on the northern and southern sides by handsome stalls, the floor being paved with black and white marble, and the roof ornamented with white tiles, divided into compartments, which are bordered with gilt carved work. The ceremony of the coronation of the kings and queens of England is performed in this part of the abbey. The best executed monuments are the productions of Roubilliac, Rysbrach, Flaxman, Westmacott, and Bacon. In the southern extremity of the transept are monuments to the memory of many of the most eminent British poets, whence this spot has received the name of Poets' Corner; and here are to be found, amongst others, the names and memorials of Chaucer, Spencer, Shakspeare, Ben Johnson, Milton, Dryden, Butler, Thomson, Gay, Goldsmith, Addison, Samuel Johnson, &c.; together with the tombs of Handel and Garrick. In the southern aisle the most remarkable monuments are those of Dr. Watts, W. Hargrave, Esq., and Captain James Cornwall. At the western end of the abbey are those of Sir Godfrey Kneller, Dr. Mead, Sir Charles Wager, the Earl of Chatham, &c. On the northern side of the entrance into the choir is the monument of Sir Isaac Newton, and near it is that of Earl Stanhope. Near the great gates, and opposite the tomb of the Earl of Chatham, lie the remains, about twelve feet from each other, of the two great political rivals, Charles James Fox, and William Pitt; the monument of the latter is over the western entrance. Lord Mansfield's monument is erected under one of the lofty arches at the northern end of the transept.

Around the choir are eight chapels, dedicated respectively to St. Benedict, St. Nicholas, St. Paul, St. Erasmus, St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist, St. Michael, and St. Andrew; and in them is a variety of tombs, erected to the memory of distinguished persons; the three last-named chapels have been converted into a single one. Besides these are two other chapels deserving particular mention, viz., the chapel of Edward the Confessor, and Henry the Seventh's chapel.

Edward the Confessor s Chapel stands immediately behind the altar of the church, upon an elevated floor, leading to which there is a flight of steps. It is remarkable for containing the shrine of its patron saint, King Edward the Confessor, and the tombs of several of the ancient English monarchs, from which circumstance it has been denominated "the Chapel of the Kings." The saint's shrine, erected pursuant to the orders of Henry III., by Peter Cavalini, stands in the centre, and was curiously ornamented with Mosaic work of coloured stones, with gilding and other ornaments, but only some fragments now remain. Of the regal monuments around, that of Henry III. is distinguished by large panels of polished porphyry, enclosed with Mosaic work of scarlet and gold, and that monarch's effigy of brass gilt, the size of life. The remains of Edward I. are contained in a plain coffin of grey marble. The tomb of Edward III. has his statue of brass gilt, and is surrounded by statues of his children, and others. There is a tomb erected to the memory of Richard II. and his queen, Anne of Bohemia, with their effigies, Editha, consort of the Confessor; Eleanor, the affectionate wife of Edward I.; the heroic Philippa, consort of Edward III., have tombs with their effigies, the former of brass gilt, and the latter of alabaster. The tomb of Henry V. is enclosed in a beautiful chantry chapel. The coronation chairs, and the stone brought from Scone by Edward I.; the sword and shield of King Edward III.; the saddle and helmet used by Henry V. at the battle of Agincourt; and various models of churches, by Sir Chris- . topher Wren, are shewn among the curiosities here. Along the frieze of the screen of this chapel are fourteen legendary sculptures, relating to the history of Edward the Confessor, which were executed in the reign of Henry III., and which are well worthy the attention of the antiquary.

Henry the Seventh's Chapel, universally admitted to be one of the richest specimens of later English architecture in the kingdom, adjoins the eastern extremity-of the abbey. It was erected as a mausoleum for himself and his family by the king whose name it bears, on the site of a smaller chapel, dedicated, like the present, to the Virgin Mary, and cost £ 14,000, a sum estimated to have been equal to a quarter of a million of our present currency. The exterior of this edifice is remarkable for richness and variety, which are greatly increased by fourteen buttresses, with crocketed turrets, projecting from the several angles of the building, and are beautifully ornamented with canopies, niches, and other decorations; these buttresses add strength as well as beauty to the edifice, being connected with the upper part of the walls of the nave by pointed arches. The interior, lighted by a double range of windows of magnificent dimensions and elegant workmanship, consists of a nave and two small aisles, and is entered by a flight of black marble steps, under a noble arch, that leads to a pair of large wrought brazen gates, thickly plated with gold, each panel being adorned with a rose and portcullis, alternately. The nave is ninety-nine feet long, sixty-six broad, and fifty-four high, and terminates at the eastern end in a curve, having five deep recesses, entered by open arches. The lofty stone ceiling, with its innumerable ornaments, excites the highest admiration. Numerous oratories, canopies, and other embellishments, adorn the sides and ends of this chapel. In the centre stands the altar-tomb of Henry VII., executed by Torregiano, in basaltic stone, ornamented with the royal effigy, and surrounded by a magnificent screen of the same material, the whole of which is said to have cost £ 10,000. Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, Margaret of Richmond, several of the Brunswick family, and numerous other royal and distinguished persons, have been interred within the walls of this celebrated chapel.

St. Margaret's church, an elegant specimen of the architecture of the period of Edward IV., stands near the northern entrance of the abbey, and is remarkable for its beautiful eastern window of painted glass, representing the Crucifixion, which was presented by the magistrates of Dort, in Holland, to Henry VII., and intended for his chapel, then erecting; but he dying before it was finished, after passing through the hands of various owners, it was at last purchased for its present situation for the sum of £420. A board in this church is inscribed to -the memory of the great Sir Walter Raleigh, who was beheaded in 1618, in Palace- yard adjoining. The members of the House of Commons attend divine service in this church on particular occasions. The Temple Church, dedicated to St. Mary, deserves especial notice for its antiquity and peculiar architecture. It is supposed to have been first erected in the year 1185, and to have been afterwards, partially or wholly, rebuilt by the Knights Templars, in the year 1244. The form "of the most ancient portion of the edifice is a peristyle, having six massive pillars, with fillets on the shafts, and Norman capitals. This portion, which forms the vestibule of the present church, contains the tombs of eleven Knights Templars. The main body of the edifice is of more modern English architecture, consisting of a nave, with two aisles, and a transept, divided by elegant clustered columns, supporting a fine arched roof. Selden, Plow den, Lord Thurlow, and the eminent physician, Dr. Mead, lie interred in this church. The Norman arch, forming the entrance to the church, is much admired for the richness of its mouldings. St. John's the Baptist, DOW almost the only remnant of the ancient palace of the Savoy, in the Strand, (which was built in 1245, and converted into an hospital in 1509, when the present church appears to have been erected), has a beautiful roof, divided into panels, on which numerous religious and heraldic devices are carved, and contains several ancient monuments of the Willoughby, Howard, and Compton families; it was very tastefully repaired in 1820. St. Saviour's, Southwark, formerly collegiate, is the most spacious parochial church in the metropolis, and one of the finest specimens of ancient architecture. It has a nave and aisles, with a choir and transept. Lady chapel, &c. Part of it appears to be of the period of Henry II., or III., and the remainder of that of Henry IV., in whose reign it was partly rebuilt. Twenty-six pillars, in two rows, support the roof of this interesting edifice; and the chancel, and galleries in the walls of the choir, are adorned with arches, in a similar manner to Westminster abbey. The tower, which is supported on four very strong pillars, is one hundred and fifty feet high, to the top of the large angular pinnacles, and contains a ring of twelve fine-toned bells. During the progress of considerable embellishment and repairs, in the month of July, 1830, the.remains of Dr. Lancelot Andrews, Bishop of Winchester, who died Sept. 21st, 1626, were discovered, in a state of great preservation, in a leaden coffin, walled up with brick, within his monument in Bishops' chapel; a subterraneous passage leading from the church was also exposed to view soon afterwards. Gower, one of the ancient English poets, has a small monument in this church, and several other eminent men lie interred here. The churchwardens of St. Saviour's, with others of the parish officers, form a corporate body, by charter of Henry VIII., granted at the dissolution of the college, or priory of Augustine canons here, when the inhabitants purchased the conventual church, and made it parochial. St. James', and St. dnne's, Soho, are only remarkable, the former for containing a beautiful marble font, sculptured by Grinlin Gibbons; and the latter for being the burial-place of Theodore, King of Corsica, who lies in the churchyard, beneath a gravestone inscribed with some aifecting lines from the pen of the late Lord Orford.

Although Sir Christopher Wren was the architect principally employed in rebuilding the churches after the great fire of London, yet the erection of a few in different parts of the metropolis was confided to his contemporaries. There were also several good churches built in the succeeding reigns, by other architects; and the following, as the most interesting of these, are entitled to a brief notice.

St. Martin's in the Fields has been invariably admired for its portico, which is the finest of any church in London, and the entire edifice is entitled to a comparison with the best works of Sir Christopher Wren. It was erected between the years 1721 and 1726, from a design by James Gibbs, and unites the light and picturesque beauty of the modern temple with the sober grandeur and solidity of Grecian architecture. The opening so long desired, for obtaining a proper view of this fine portico, has lately been made. St. George's, Hanover-square, is also remarkable for a very fine portico of the Corinthian order, consisting of six columns, with an entablature and pediment: the steeple is an excellent piece of architecture. Over the altar-piece is a tolerably good painting of the Last Supper, attributed to Sir James Thornhill. St. Mary'sle- Strand, though sometimes censured for its affected display of the five orders of architecture, and otherwise too lavish ornament, is a handsome edifice, erected by Gibbs in 1717, just after his return from Italy. The western entrance is by a flight of semicircular steps, which leads to a similarly-shaped portico of the Ionic order, surmounted by a dome. Two ranges of columns, the lower Ionic, the upper Corinthian, run round the body of the church, with pilasters of the same orders at the corners, and in the intercolumniations are, in the lower range, niches, and in the upper, windows, both tastefully ornamented. St. Clement's Danes has a fine lofty steeple by Gibbs, but the body of the church is said to have been designed by Sir Christopher Wren. It is built of stone, with two tiers of windows, the lower plain, the upper ornamented. The western entrance consists of a portico on each side of the steeple, having domes supported by Ionic columns. St. Paul's, Covent Garden, was originally erected by Inigo Jones, at the expense of the Earl of Bedford. On the 17th of September, 1795, this church was burnt down, but it was rebuilt in imitation of the original edifice. It has a noble massive portico of the Tuscan order, and the interior is of great neatness and simplicity. Butler, the author of Hudibras, and Dr. Walcot, better known under the assumed name of Peter Pindar, lie buried in the churchyard. St. Giles' in the Fields, erected from a design by Mr. Henry Flightcroft, is constructed entirely of stone, in a simple yet elegant style, having a lofty handsome steeple, and was finished in 1734, at an expense of £10,000. The entrance gateway has a fine sculptured entablature, representing the Day of Judgment, St. George's, Bloomsbury, was erected by Mr. Nicholas Hawksmoor, and finished in 1731. It is a singular, and not very harmonious, compound of the Tuscan and Corinthian orders, constructed entirely of stone, with a good portico in front, and a pyramidical steeple, grotesquely ornamented. St. Johns the Evangelist, Milbank. This church, designed by Sir John Vanbrugh, is remarkable for having four steeples, one at each corner, which give it rather a whimsical appearance; several of its details are, however, beautiful.

The churches erected since the commencement of the present century are numerous, and some of them eminent specimens of architectural display, particularly St. Pancras', Marylebone, All Souls', Langham - place; St. Luke's, Chelsea, &c. There are in various parts of the metropolis, about four hundred and fifty places of worship, of which nearly two hundred belong to the establishment; there are forty-seven for Baptists, six for the Society of Friends, upwards of one hundred for Independents, thirty-two for Wesleyan Methodists, four for Swedenborgians, six for Unitarians, four for Welch Calvinists, and numerous others for different classes of Protestant dissenters. There are also nine chapels in connexion with the church of Scotland, fourteen Roman Catholic chapels, seven synagogues, and eighteen Foreign Protestant churches and chapels.

COLLEGES, SCHOOLS, AND ESTABLISHMENTS FOR INSTRUCTION AND STUDY OF VARIOUS KINDS.

London contains two colleges, forty-five free schools with perpetual endowments, seventeen schools for poor and deserted children, and upwards of two hundred parochial schools, in which the children are both clothed and educated: there are also numerous National and Lancasterian schools, upwards of five hundred Sunday schools, and about four thousand private schools in and near the metropolis.

King's College was so named from its having been founded under the immediate patronage of his late Majesty, George IV., who presented the proprietors with the site, on the condition that the college should be completed in conformity to the design of Somerset House. Considerable progress has been made towards the erection of the buildings, which, when finished, -will form the eastern wing of that noble pile, of which it has hitherto been deficient, and will, by corresponding with the other parts of the building, render it complete. The estimated expense, as given by the architect, Mr. Smirke, is £140,000, exclusively of £17,000 for the purchase and removal of houses next the Strand, to make room for the principal front, and £10,000 for furniture; making, with other additional items, £170,000., besides the cost of furnishing the library and museum. The design of the institution is to afford to the youth of the metropolis a course of instruction similar to that pursued at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The principal, with a competent number of professors, will be appointed by a council, consisting of the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice of the Court of Bang's Bench, Secretary of State for the Home Department, Speaker of the House of Commons, Deans of St. Paul and Westminster, and the Lord Mayor; by this body all the fundamental regulations, respecting the discipline and course of education are to be approved. The Archbishop of Canterbury is appointed perpetual visitor. The funds for the erection aud support of the institution have been raised by donations, and by shares of £100 each, the dividends on which are not to exceed foul per cent., the surplus to be applied exclusively to the benefit of the college.

The London University was established with a view to afford a liberal education principally to students who are excluded from Oxford and Cambridge by the statutes of religious conformity: the students are not admitted until they are able to perform certain exercises, aud are divided into three classes, according to the different departments of literature in which they are engaged. The institution is governed by a council of twenty-four, six of whom are chosen annually; these appoint a warden and professors, each of whom receives a fixed stipend, until the fees paid by the students constitute a sufficient support, and are entitled to superannuated allowances: the University year excludes only the months of August, September, and October. The funds of the institution are to be not less than £ 150,000, nor more than £300,000; each proprietor has the right of appointing one pupil, and receives four per cent, on every £ 100 share. The building, the first stone of which was laid on the 30th of April, 1827, by his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, the contract for its completion being £107,000, occupies, with its appendages, seven acres of ground, near the New road, purchased for £90,000: that portion already built is entirely constructed of stone, and the whole will, when completed, consist of a central portico of ten Corinthian columns, with enriched entablature and pediment, and two wings projecting at right angles, with tetrastyle porticoes to correspond; over the whole, springing from the vestibule, is an elevated dome, surmounted by a Grecian temple of eight pillars; and there are smaller corresponding' domes to the wings; two other wings of equal length extend from the back of the central part, and there are other connecting buildings: the theatres, lecture-rooms, and apartments of the interior, are all of elegant architecture, and commodiously adapted to their respective purposes.

Westminster School, founded, in 1560, by Queen Elizabeth, for forty scholars, who receive an education preparatory for the University, besides whom are educated, as private scholars, many of the sons of the nobility and gentry; the school is situated within the precincts of Westminster Abbey. Eight boys are elected annually on the foundation; and four more, called " Bishop's boys," who wear gowns of a different colour from those of the " King's scholars," are appointed by the Dean, on the establishment by Dr. Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1628, who directed an annual pecuniary allowance to be made to each, which is withheld until the boys are entered at St. John's College, Cambridge, when the Dean and Chapter add so much as will make up £ 20 a year for four years. The bishop also endowed four scholarships in the same college, for boys of this school, preference being given to those on his own foundation, each of the value of £20 per annum, for four years. The other University advantages are, eight studentships and scholarships at Corpus Christi and Trinity Colleges, Cambridge, the former of the value of from'£50 to £60 per annum, the latter £25; three scholarships at St. John's College, Cambridge, founded by Sir Robert Wood, Knt., in 1659; a second nomination to three more at Corpus Christi College, of the annual value of £20 each, founded by Archbishop Parker, in 1569; and a rent-charge of £20, assigned by Dr. Triplett, in 1668, towards the support of four boys from this school at the University.

The Charter-house, which comprises an hospital as well as a school, is so named from the word Chartreuse, the site having been occupied by a convent of Carthusian monks. It was built and endowed, in the reign of James I., by Mr. Thomas Sutton, a merchant of great opulence and liberality: the purchase and completion of the buildings cost upwards of £20,000. The establishment of this noble seminary consists of a master, a preacher, two schoolmasters, and forty-four scholars, who are supported free of every expense. The boys, presented by the Governors in rotation, are instructed in classical learning, and wear an academical dress, resembling that worn by the scholars of Eton and Westminster. The hospital is for eighty decayed gentlemen, who have been merchants, or military officers, each of whom is allowed £14 a year, besides a gown, provisions, fuel, and two handsome apartments; they dine in a common hall, and attend prayers daily in the chapel. The buildings occupy the whole site of the ancient monastery, which, with its gardens and grounds, was of great extent, and several portions of the ancient monastic edifice, still remaining, present a very antique and venerable appearance. From the revenue of the institution, twenty-nine exhibitioners, at either of the Universities, are allowed £ 80 per annum for the first four years, and, if they graduate regularly, £'100 per annum for the next four years. It has also ten exhibitions at Christ Church, Pembroke, Worcester, and University, Colleges, Oxford, founded by Dame Elizabeth Holford, in 1720; its governors have the patronage of nine ecclesiastical benefices.

St. Paul's School, at the east end of St. Paul's churchyard, was founded in 1509, by the celebrated Dr. Colet, Dean of St. Paul's, for the free education of one hundred and fifty-three boys, by a master, an usher, and a chaplain, under the direction of the Mercers' Company, who are perpetual trustees, and on the appointment of the master of the company, as senior surveyor of the school. The revenue of the school is upwards of £ 5000; in addition to which the Company are in the receipt of £ 1000 annually, on an average, arising from £18,834. 15. three per cent, reduced annuities, and the produce of tithes in the county of Northumberland, bequeathed by Viscount Campden, about 1685, for the endowment of exhibitions at Trinity College, Cambridge, in behalf of this school, for which nine exhibitioners are allowed £ 100 per annum each for five years. There are also, an unlimited number of exhibitions, of the value of £50 a year each, tenable for seven years, at either University; one, of £30 a year, at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, founded by John Stock, Esq., in 1781, tenable for seven years; five at Trinity College, Cambridge, of £ 10 per annum each, founded by Mr. Perry; four scholarships at Corpus Christi College, founded, in 1766, by George Sykes, Esq.; and two exhibitions of £10 per annum each, jointly with the free grammar school at Dorchester, at St. John's College, Cambridge, foxmded by Dr. Gower, for clergymen's sons: the school has also an interest in Sir Robert Wood's scholarships, in default of candidates from the schools at Canterbury and Westminster. The school apartments were rebuilt in 1824, entirely of stone, in an elegant style, and with several enlargements, particulary a fine arcade for the recreation of the boys.

Merchant Taylors School, founded in 1561, by Sir Thomas White, and liberally endowed by him and other members of the company, is conducted by a principal, and three under-masters, who teach the classics; and two writing-masters, recently appointed, for whom a room has been lately constructed out of some smaller apartments, previously occupied by the junior masters; the number of boys is limited to two hundred and fifty, who are presented by the members of the court, each member exercising the privilege in rotation: on admission the boys pay £5. 2. each, and £2. 2. per quarter, with some other trifling charges; one half of the admission fees is set apart for founding exhibitions at the Universities. It has thirty-seven fellowships at St. John's College, Oxford; six scholarships at Pembroke College, Cambridge, of the value of £40 a year each, tenable for seven years, founded by the Rev. C. Parkyn; six civil law fellowships of £50 per annum each, at St. John's College, Oxford; two exhibitions, of £ 50 per annum each, one at St. John's College, Oxford, and the other at Pembroke College, Cambridge, founded by Dr. Stuart: five Divinity scholarships, of £4. 8. each, founded by Walter Fish; four of £4 per annum each, founded by John Vernon, in 1615; and one scholarship of £4 per annum, founded by John Wooller, all at St. John's College, Oxford; and an exhibition, of uncertain value, to cither University, arising from the amount of donations by individuals educated at this school: there are also a by-fellowship and two scholarships at Catherine Hall, Cambridge, founded by Thomas Holwey, for boys from Eton, or Merchant Taylor's school; and it has an interest in Sir Robert Wood's scholarships, in default of boys from Canterbury and Westminster schools. By a recent arrangement the boys in the two upper forms are taught mathematics; no boy can derive any advantage from the foundation if he enters higher than the third form. The buildings of the establishment, situated on the east side of Suffolk-lane, Cannon-street, consist of the school, apartments for the usher, a house for the head master, a library, and a chapel.

Christ's Hospital, Newgate-street, founded by Edward VI., in 1552, on the site of a dissolved monastery of Grey friars, is the noble and celebrated establishment commonly denominated the Blue-coat school, from the costume of the children supported and educated there. This institution, famed for its antiquity, extent, and high character, occupies the site of the Grey friars' monastery, the buildings of which, having gone to decay, have just been magnificently re-edified in the original style. Upon this foundation there are generally from one thousand to fourteen hundred boys, who are clothed, boarded, and educated. The lord mayor and corporation of London are governors and directors, ex officio, and there are other governors, amounting in all to about three hundred and fifty, who must be donors of £400 and upwards. The New Hall, from a design by Mr. John Shawe, is one of the grandest and most imposing modern attempts at later English architecture. It stands on the site of the little cloisters of the monastery, measuring more than one hundred and eighty feet in length, and of proportionate height and width. The structure is of stone, and the style, agreeing with the date of the charity, has been copied from the hall of Hampton Court palace, from which noble model, however, it differs in many respects, but yet in strict accordance with the style adopted. The staircases, and a fine cloister beneath, correspond, and concur, with the interior of the hall itself, to render this one of the most magnificent banqueting-rooms in England. There is an establishment at Hertford, to which the younger boys are generally sent preparatory to their entering on the foundation in London. The revenue of the hospital, arising from landed and funded property, purchased with the donations of numerous private individuals, amounts to about £45,000. There are six exhibitions at Pembroke College, Cambridge, each of the value of £90 for the first four years, aad £ 50 for the last three years, each scholar receiving £50 for an outfit; an exhibition of £70, with the same outfit, at any college in Oxford, every seventh year; two scholarships, of £40 per annum each, at Pembroke College, Cambridge, founded by Mr. Sergeant Moses; six of £ 10 per annum each, three at Emanuel College, and three at Christ College, Cambridge, founded by John Brown, in 1662; and two exhibitions of £12 per annum, at Emanuel College, founded by Emanuel Richards, the holders of which receive also an extra allowance.

The edifices in which many of the other schools are held are handsome, and the establishments extensive.

HOSPITALS, AND OTHER. CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.

London contains thirty hospitals, for the sick and diseased: one hundred and seven almshouses, for the maintenance of the aged; eighteen asylums for the support of indigent persons of various other descriptions; numerous dispensaries for gratuitously supplying the poor with medicine and medical aid at their own dwellings; and in each parish a workhouse, for maintaining its own poor. Exclusively of this ample list, the Livery Com-> panics alone distribute above £75,000 annually in charities; and there is a multitude of institutions for the relief of the distressed, of a less public and prominent nature than those above specified. The aggregate amount of the sums annually expended in public charities in London is estimated at little less than one million sterling. The hospitals were chiefly founded by the munificence of private individuals; some of them being endowed with permanent revenues, and others supported by annual or occasional voluntary subscriptions. The almshouses were built and endowed either by individuals or by the incorporated companies. Many of the hospitals are buildings of immense extent and imposing architecture, and their internal regulations are worthy of their magnitude and importance. The medical assistance is the best the profession can supply; the attendance ample, and the rooms and wards, bedding, &c., clean and wholesome. The almshouses and other institutions for the support of the aged and indigent exhibit not merely an appearance, but the real possession, of competence and ease. The hospitals and other institutions for the benefit of the sick, diseased, maimed, and afflicted, are as follows; St. Bartholomew's Hospital was incorporated in the last year of the reign of Henry VIII., having formerly belonged to the priory of St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield, founded, in 1102, by one Rayhere, said to have been jester to King Henry I. The present edifice was constructed by Gibbs, in 1729, and consists of four magnificent piles of stone building, forming the four equal sides of a quadrangle, and connected by stone gateways, The establishment is provided with three physicians, three surgeons, three assistant surgeons, an apothecary, and chaplain, with numerous nurses and attendants. Persons injured by accident are received into this hospital at all hours; those afflicted with disease are only admitted on petition. It administers relief upon an average to between ten and twelve thousand persons annually. St. Thomas' Hospital, of ancient monastic foundation, but refounded by Edward VI., stands in High-street, Southwark. It was rebuilt in 1693, in three beautiful squares, to which the governors, in 1732, added a fourth magnificent pile of building at their own expense. It is now composed of four quadrangular courts, comprising numerous wards, and having a chapel, and parochial church. Belonging to the establishment are also hot and cold baths, a surgery, a theatre for the delivery of lectures, capable of accommodating three hundred persons, and a dispenj sary. The annual expenditure is about £10,000, and the number of persons relieved nearly the same as at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Both are under the control of the lord mayor and aldermen. Guy's Hospital stands at a small distance from St. Thomas', and receives its name from its founder, Thomas Guy, Esq.. citizen of London, who expended £18,793 on its erection during his lifetime, and endowed it with the immense sum of £220,000 at his death. The building consists of a centre and two wings, with a separate edifice in the rear, for lunatic patients. It includes thirteen large wards, a hall and chapel, a theatre for lectures, a laboratory, a museum of anatomical preparations, and a library. It also contains above four hundred beds, and affords relief to two thousand outpatients yearly^ possessing an establishment of three physicians, three surgeons, and an apothecary, besides numerous attendants; the funds of this hospital have lately been augmented by a very considerable benefaction, so as to have caused the intention of greatly enlarging its dimensions. The London Hospital, in Whitechapel- road, was first established in 1740, and the present building was erected in 1759. The patients relieved are, sick and wounded seamen, and other persons connected with the river and maritime affairs; their number amounts annually to many thousands. This institution has an accumulating fund, under the management of twentyone guardians, chosen once in three years, intended to secure a provision for its permanent support. The building is extremely large, possessing an extensive front towards the road. The Middlesex Hospital, situated in Charles-street, Oxford-street, was built in 1745, for the reception of sick and lame patients, the relief of lyingin married women and of out-patients, and the admission at all hours of persons wounded by accidents; in ] 792, an addition was made to it by a beneficent individual for affording relief to persons afflicted with cancers, who, if they choose, may remain in the hospital for life; it is capable of receiving three hundred patients. The Westminster Hospital, James-street, Westminster, was founded in 1719, "for the relief of the sick and needy from all parts." The building is neat and extensive, and the medical assistance ample. The New Bethlehem Lunatic Hospital, Lambeth, is on a scale of real magnificence, the grand front being five hundred and eighty feet in length, and resembling rather a palace than an erection for the purposes of charity. This establishment was founded by Henry VIII., and was removed from its old situation in Moorfields, in 1812. The building is of brick, and comprises a centre and two wings, the former being surmounted by a dome, and decorated with an Ionic portico of six columns, supporting the arms of the United Kingdom, and was completed at an expense of about £ 100,000, from a design by Mr. Lewis. It is capable of receiving four hundred and sixty patients, who are under the superintendence of a steward, apothecary, matron, keepers, &c.; the whole being subject to the government of the lord mayor and aldermen. The annual income of the hospital is about £18,000. St. Luke's Hospital, also for lunatics, established by voluntary contributions, on account of the inadequacy of the last-mentioned establishment "for the relief of all indigent lunatics," is a noble building, situated in Old-street, having a front four hundred and ninetythree feet long, remarkable for simple grandeur. Its interior arrangement constitutes a perfect model for similar charities; the number of patients is limited to three hundred. The original building was erected, in 1732, on the north side of Upper Moorfields; the present was commenced in 1751, but not completed till 1786, at an expense of £55,000. Bridewell Hospital occupies the site of Bridewell palace, near Fleet-street j before the fire of London, it consisted of several quadrangles, and is still of great extent. This establishment was founded by Edward VI., for the relief of distress, and the punishment of vagrants, to which latter purpose it is still partly applied, being at present used as a house of correction for dissolute persons, and idle apprentices, committed by the chamberlain of the city; and for the temporary maintenance of distressed vagrants till they can be passed to their places of settlement: it is under the government of the mayor and corporation.

Besides these principal hospitals, there are several others of considerable magnitude; such as St. George's hospital, Hyde Park Corner, now being rebuilt j the Lock hospital, Grosvenor-place; the Small-Pox hospital, Gray's Inn-lane; the hospitals for Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and German Jews, Mile-End-road; the hospital for aged French Protestants, St. Luke's; the Fever hospital, Battle-bridge, &c. The Lying-in hospitals are numerous, and receive upwards of five thousand poor women annually. The principal are, The British, The City of London, The Queen's, Westminster, Middlesex, and Brownlow-street hospitals; all which are spacious buildings, and some of them, particularly the City of London and the Westminster hospitals, are of very handsome construction. The subordinate institutions of this class furnish attendance to females at their own houses, and are situated in different parts of the town. The Dispensaries, for affording medical relief in cases of sickness, accident, &c., amount in London, as has been stated, to upwards of twenty, exclusively of the various establishments for vaccine inoculation.

The principal miscellaneous charitable establishments are, the Foundling hospital, Guildford-street, founded originally for the reception and maintenance of exposed and deserted children, and open for the reception of illegitimate children of females of good character, whose future prospects are not likely to be affected by a temporary dereliction of the path of virtue; the Magdalen hospital, Blackfriars-road; the London Female Penitentiary, Pentonville, and the Metropolitan Asylum, Hackney, for the relief and reformation of repentant prostitutes; the Asylum for Female Orphans, Westminster-road; the Marine Society, for fitting out indigent, distressed, and even depraved boys, for the naval service; the Asylum for the Indigent Blind, St. George's Fields, and that for the Deaf and Dumb, Kent-road; the Philanthropic Society, St. George's Fields, for the children of convicted criminals; the Refuge for the Destitute, Hackney-road; the Royal Humane Society, for recovering persons from apparent death by drowning, &c.; the National Vaccine Society, for the extermination of the small pox, by means of vaccination; the Samaritan Society, for the relief of patients discharged cured from the London hospital; the Society of Schoolmasters, for the benefit of the necessitous orphans and widows of that useful class of men; the Society for the relief and discharge of persons imprisoned for small debts, Craven-street, Strand; the Scottish hospital, for relieving distressed natives of Scotland, Crane-court, Fleet-street; the Benevolent Society of St. Patrick, having, in regard to the natives of Ireland, the same objects as the Scottish Corporation; the Caledonian Asylum, for supporting and edu- cating the children of soldiers, sailors, marines, &c., natives of Scotland, or born of indigent Scottish parents resident in London; the Society of Ancient Britons, Gray's-Inn-lane, for maintaining, instructing, clothing, and apprenticing children of Welch parents, born in and near London; the National Benevolent Institution, Freemasons' hall, for the relief of distressed persons in the middle ranks of life, of any country or persuasion; the Corporation for the relief of poor -widows and children of clergymen, being an extremely well-supported establishment, under the especial patronage of the established church, the anniversary meetings of which are held in St. Paul's Cathedral, in the second week in May, when a grand musical festival is given for the "benefit of the sons of the Clergy;" the African Institution, Westminster library, Jermyn-street; the Society for the relief of distressed foreigners; the London Maritime Institution; the Society for the relief of the widows and orphans of medical men in and near London; the Artists' Benevolent Fund, and the Artists' Joint Stock Fund; the Sheriffs' Fund; Raine's Charity, St. George's in the East; the Literary Fund Society, Lincoln's-Inn-Fields; the Royal Society of Musicians; the Choral Fund, and the New Musical Fund; the Philological Society, Kingstreet (West), Bryanston-square; the Female Friendly Society, &c. The Infirmaries are, the Sea-bathing Infirmary, Tower-street; the Royal Infirmary for disorders of the eye, Nassau-street; the London Infirmary, for similar complaints, Finsbury; the New Rupture Society, Great Russell-street; and the City of London Truss Society, at the City Dispensary, Grocers'-hallcourt. The Infirmary for the diseases of the spine, Upper St. Martin's-lane. Among the buildings of the above institutions which are worthy of notice, for their magnitude or architectural merit, may be particularised those of the Foundling hospital, the Magdalen, the Asylum for Female Orphans, the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, the Caledonian Asylum, and the Welch Society, Gray's-Inn-lane. There are also numerous Religious Societies, of which the following are the principal: The British and Foreign, The Naval and Military, and the Merchant Seamen's, Bible Societies; The Church of England, The London, the Wesleyan Methodist, The Baptist, and The Moravian, Missionary Societies; The Prayer Book and Homily Society; The London Hibernian, and The Irish Evangelical, Societies; The Society for promoting Christianity in Foreign parts; The Religious Tract Society; The Home Missionary, and the Christian Instruction, Societies; The Societies for promoting Christianity among the Jews, and for the conversion of Negro Slaves; The Society for the support and encouragement of Sunday schools, throughout the British dominions; and The National Society, for the education of the poor in the principles of the Established Church in England and Wales.

LIBRARIES.

London possesses a great number of public libraries, independently of those attached to different charitable foundations.

The British Museum.-This national repository, as well of antiquities and curiosities as of books and manuscripts, was established, by act of parliament, in 1753. Its originator was Sir Hans Sloane, who bequeathed his museum to the nation, on condition that parliament should pay £20,000 to his executors, and provide a house for its reception. This was accomplished, by means of £85,000 raised by lottery for the purposeand other collections being added, the whole were deposited in the noble mansion formerly belonging to the Duke of Montague, in Great Russell-street, Bloomsbury, which had been purchased for the purpose. To the Sloanean museum parliament have added, at various times, the Cottonian library, given by Sir R. Cotton to the public, and removed from Cotton-house, Westmin, ster; Major Edwards'library; the Harleian library; Dr, Burney's rare and classical library, and the Laosdowue manuscripts; various literary men and others have also increased the treasures of this establishment by donations and legacies. George II. gave the whole of the important library of printed books and manuscripts which had been gradually collected by the kings of England, from Henry VH.'to William III. George III. gave a large and valuable assortment of pamphlets, published between the years 1640 and 1660; and Garrick bequeathed to the Museum his collection of old plays. Some of the principal private donations are, Dr. Birch's library, left by will, together with £522. 18. per annum in the funds for ever; a select library of classical works, by Thomas Tyrwhitt, Esq.; a similar bequest by Sir William Musgrave; and a magnificent collection of printed books and prints by the late Rev. M. Cracherode. The most recent, and one of the most important donations, is that of the magnificent library collected by George III., and presented to the trustees of this great national repository by His late Majesty, George IV., for the reception of which, an extensive and elegant gallery has been recently added to the buildings of the Museum. Numerous other libraries, and valuable collections of pieces of ancient sculpture, curiosities, &cv have been added, by gift or purchase, rendering the British Museum, at the present time, in books, manuscripts, sculpture, antiquities, and the curiosities of art and nature, one of the richest in Europe. The whole of the building, which is decaying in many parts, it has been proposed to re-edify, from the elegant designs of Mr. Smirke. The parts finished in the rebuilding of it consist of the splendid pile for the reception of the library given by the late king: it has a front looking towards Bedford-square, faced with stone; and the projections in the centre are ornamented with four half columns of the Ionic order, fluted, and a pilaster at each end, of the same order, which support a pediment; the cornice, &c., of wrought stone, being placed at the top of the wall along the whole of this side. The entrance is at the end of Montague-place. The first and righthand apartment is of very great length, extending to the projection in the centre of the building, where it is ornamented on each side with two superb Corinthian columns, having shafts and bases of highly-polished marble, with beautiful capitals of variegated marble: it is adjoined by a second apartment of nearly equal dimensions, and two smaller rooms beyond. The whole of this noble suite of apartments are very lofty, of equal height, and have an enriched cornice and frieze, with ceilings of the most magnificent description; they are supported with iron, which renders the building fireproof, and which is itself further supported by very strong iron girders, placed at intervals across the walls. All the rooms are lighted on both sides with windows of equal dimensions, extending the entire length of the building, and the walls which separate the apartments are decorated at the angles with double-faced pilasters of polished marble; the upper suite of rooms, stone staircase, entrance-hall, and other portions on this side, as well as the whole of its exterior, is of correspondent grandeur. The immense number, and splendid binding, of the works in the royal collection,, in the principal library, amounting to sixty thousand volumes, many of them most costly and exquisite, are in harmony with the fitting-up of the apartment in which they are placed, and, with the books in the other apartments, form a collection of nearly one hundred and seventy thousand printed volumes, and twenty thousand volumes of manuscripts.

The London Institution was formed in the autumn of 1805, by the exertions of a few public-spirited individuals, as a public library for the more especial use of the city, and a charter of incorporation was obtained in January, 1807. The temporary house fixed upon for this purpose, until a suitable building could be erected, was, in the first place, the old mansion of Sir Robert Clayton, in the Old Jewry, and subsequently a house in King's Arms Yard, Coleman-street. In 1815, the present elegant building, which has the advantage of a peculiarly fine situation, in Finsbury-circus, was constructed, partly from the funds of the society, and partly from, the voluntary contributions of such of its members as were friendly to the measure; the first stone was laid by the lord mayor (S. Birch, Esq.), accompanied by the civic state officers, and the proprietors; and the edifice was completed and opened in 1819. The building is of stone, and has a beautiful front, the length of which is one hundred and forty feet. The centre is adorned with a handsome portico, consisting of four Tuscan pillars, supporting an equal number of the Corinthian order on an upper story, the whole being surmounted by a pediment. An entrance-hall of great elegance, decorated with columns and pilasters, leads by a grand double stone staircase to the library, a fine apartment, ninetyseven feet long, forty-two broad, and twenty-eight high, elegantly fitted up, with stone galleries running round the whole upper part, and containing a very extensive collection of books in recesses, being particularly rich in works relating to English history and Topography. Besides committee-rooms, reading-rooms, and every other requisite convenience, there is an elegant theatre for the delivery of lectures. The acquisition of a fine library, the diffusion of knowledge by means of lectures and experiments, and the providing for the subscribers a reading- room, furnished with the best English and foreign periodicals, are the principal objects of this institution. To accomplish these, nearly one thousand gentlemen and merchants subscribed seventy-five guineas each, and selected a committee who framed the laws by which the institution is governed: this committee, consisting of twenty-six members, is chosen annually, and the whole direction is vested in them.

The Red Cross-street Library was founded for Protestant dissenting ministers by Dr. Williams, about the year 1716, and, in consequence of gifts and purchases since that time, it now contains about twenty thousand volumes. The books are for the most part on Theological subjects; and admission may be procured by application to the librarian, on any day in the week, except Saturday.

Sion College, London Wall, is both a charitable and a literary institution. The building was originally an hospital for blind paupers, and, after passing through various hands, was purchased for the purpose of erecting Sion college, for the use of the London clergy, who were incorporated by Charles I. The purchase was made in consequence of the will of Dr. Thomas White, vicar of St. Dustan's in the West, who left £3000 for the purpose. The library was the gift of the Rev. John Simpson, rector of St. Olave's, Hart-street, one of Dr. White's executors; but it was afterwards considerably increased, both before and after the fire of London, which destroyed a great number of the books. It now consists of a very extensive collection, like the former, chiefly Theological: all rectors and vicars within the city are fellows of this college.

LITERARY, PHILOSOPHICAL, AND OTHER LEARNED AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS, &c.

The number of these is very great, and is daily increasing. The first in consequence and antiquity are, the Royal Society, and the Antiquarian Society, the meetings of both which are held at Somerset House; and next in order are the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, situated in Johnstreet, Adelphi j the Royal Institution of Great Britain, Albemarle-street; the London Institution, already described; the Russell Institution, Great Coram-street; the Mechanics' Institution, Southampton-buildings; the City of London Literary and Scientific Institution, Aldersgate-street; and the Westminster Literary and Scientific Institution, Leicester-square: all these possess fine libraries, and the buildings in which they are held generally merit observation. The names of the other principal institutions are, the British Mineralogical, and Entomological Societies; the Philosophical Society of London; the Astronomical Society,Lincoln's-Inn-Fields j the City Philosophical Society; the Mathematical Society, Spitalfields; the Horticultural Society; the Linneean Society; the Geological Society; Gresham College, &c. The Medical and Surgical Institutions consist of the College of Physicians, removed from the fine building by Sir Christopher Wren, in Warwick-lane, to Pail-Mall (East); the Surgeons' College, Lincoln's-Innsquare; the Apothecaries' Company and Hall, Blackfriars; the Medical Society, Bolt-court, Fleet-street; and.the Medical and Chirurgical Society, in Lincoln's- Inn-Fields. The principal Theatres of Anatomy and for Medical lectures are, Dr. Bell's theatre in Great Windmill- street, and those of the several hospitals; and in different other places numerous miscellaneous lectures are delivered on various branches of medical science.

The Public Exhibitions of Paintings are those of the Royal Academy, Somerset House; the Gallery of the British Institution, Pall-Mali; the Society 'of Painters in Water Colours, Pall-Mali (East); the Society of British Artists, Suffolk-street; the National Gallery, Pall-Mall; the various Panoramas, &c. Of these, The National Gallery was begun by the purchase by government of the Angerstein collection of pictures, subsequently to which were purchased some of the finest paintings of Corregio, A. Carrachi, Murillo, Titian, &c., and twenty additional paintings were presented by Sir George Beaumont, including a beautiful landscape by Rubens. The new building, from a design by Nash, was 'determined on by the late king and the proper authorities, in July 1828; it is to be called the New National Gallery and Royal Academy, and to be erected on the site of the present riding-house, in the King's Mews, having a front towards Charing Cross, three hundred yards in length, with a beautiful Corinthian portico and centre dome, a small one on each wing, and a still smaller on each of the principal extremities. Being intended to have an elevation about twice the height of the first-rate houses already erected, it will form a very grand and noble line, extended, in a direction from Pall-Mall (East), nearly across to St. Martin's church. The space immediately in front will be occupied by the New Royal Academy, which is intended to represent an extensive Grecian temple, having at the exit and entrance a long flight of steps, and standing at right angles with the National Gallery.

Zoological Society and its Gardens. The gardens of this society, in the Regent's Park, are delightfully laid out in walks, interspersed with pheasantries and aviaries, sheds and enclosures, &c., for the preservation and rearing of the animals belonging to the society, brought from all parts of the globe. Besides the museum, which contains six hundred species of mammalia, four thousand birds, one thousand reptiles and fishes, one thousand testucea and Crustacea, and thirty thousand insects, the vivarium contains upwards of four hundred and thirty living quadrupeds and birds, the whole of which are accommodated in buildings and places Calculated to afford them the opportunity of enjoying ejvery approximation, consistent with a captive state, to their natural habits; such as the bears' pit, the lama house, beaver dam, kangaroo hut, and aviaries for hawks, owls, small birds, &c. The society has lately received a valuable addition to its rapidly increasing collection from His present Majesty, who has munificently presented the collection of birds and beasts made by the late King, George IV.; and so interesting and attractive has the establishment been found, that, in the short period of seven months, the gardens and museum are stated to have been visited by upwards of one hundred and thirty thousand persons.

The Coliseum is a large building in the Regent's Park, bearing a considerable resemblance to the Pantheon at Rome, and was originally intended only for the exhibition of an immense panoramic picture of London, taken from the very summit of St. Paul's Cathedral by Mr. Horner, who projected the design of the building: as at present finished, however, there is a variety of additional departments, such as a conservatory filled with a great variety of foreign and choice plants and shrubs; an aviary, grottos, waterfalls, jets il'eau,a library, a reading-room, a refectory, and various other sources of amusement or recreation. The work altogether is novel and unique in its kind, and nearly £70,000 has been expended in its execution.

ANTIQUITIES.

The antiquities of London, for the most part destroyed with the city in 1666, but, till within the last sixty or seventy years, still numerous, have of late, through the extension of commercial enterprise, and the progress of modern improvement, externally almost disappeared. The monasteries, forming the first class, amounted to nearly fifty, the names, situations, founders, dates, and orders of which were as follows;

-Convents of Monks. St. Peter's, Westminster, founded by Sebert, in 605, for Benedictines; St. Saviour's, Bermondsey, by Ailwin Child, in 1082, for Cluniacs; St. Mary's of the Graces, or Eastminster abbey, Towerhill, by Edward III., in 1359, for Cistercians; the Chartreuse, or Charter-house, near Smithfield, by Sir Walter Manny, Knt., in 1371, for Carthusians. Nunneries. St. Mary's, Clerkenwell, by Jordan Brisset and Wife, in 1100, for Benedictines; St. John's the Baptist, Holywell, Shoreditch, by Richard I., in 1189, (refounded by Sir Thomas Lovel, Knt., in 1510,) for Benedictines; St. Helen's, Bishopsgate-street, by William Basing, in 1212, for Benedictines; and St. Clare's, or Nuns Minoresses, Minories, by Blanch, Queen of Navarre, in 1293. Friaries. Franciscan, Newgate-street, by John Ewin, Mercer, in 1225; Carmelite, Fleet-street, by Sir Richard Grey, in 1241; Dominican, by Hubert de Bourgh, in 1242, in Holborn, and refounded at Ludgate, by Archbishop Kilwarby, in 1279; Augustine, Throgmortonstreet, by Humphrey Bohun, in 1253; and Crouched or Crutched, Hart-street, Tower-hill, by Ralph Hosier and Richard Laberne, in 1298. Colleges. St. Mary Overey's, or St. Saviour's, Southwark, by Mary Overey, in 1000, for Augustine canons; St. Martin's-le-Grand, by In- gelric and Girard, in 1056, for Augustine canons; Holy Trinity, Aldgate, by Queen Maud, in 1108; London College, Guildhall, by Peter Fanlone, Adam Francis, and Henry Frowick, in 1299; Corpus Christi, St. Lawrence', Poultney-lane, by Sir John de Poultney, in 1346; St. Michael's, Crooked-lane, by Sir William Walworth, in 1380; the Holy Ghost and St. Mary's, College-hill, Thames-street,by Sir Richard Whittington,Knt.,in 1418; and Jesus's College, St. Paul's Cathedral. Hospitals. St. John's of Jerusalem, Smithfield, by Jordan Brisset and Wife, in 1100; St. Giles' in the Fields, Bloomsbury, by Queen Matilda, in 1102, for lepers; St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield, by one Rayhere, in 1102; St. Thomas' of Aeon, Cheapside, by Thomas Fitz-Theobald de Heily and Wife, in 1170; St. Mary's Spital, Norton-Falgate, by Walter Brune and Wife, in 1179, for Canons Regular; Knights' Templars, Holborn, and afterwards Fleet-street, in 1185, refounded in 1245; St. Mary's Bethlehem, Bishopsgate- street, by Simon Fitz-Mary, in 1246; Elsnige Spital, London Wall, by Wffliam Elsnige, in 1329; St. Thomas', Southwark; St. James', Pail-Mall, and the Savoy, for lepers and infirm. Priory. St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield, by Rayhtre, in 1102, for canons Regular of the order of St. Augustine. Domus. Conversorum. Rolls Chapel, Chancery-lane, by Henry III., in 1233, for Converted Jews. Guilds, or Fraternities of Priests, be. Allhallows Barking, Tower-street; Lcadenhall, Leadenhall- street; St. Peter's, Cornhill; St. Augustine's, Papey, Camomile-street; Holy Trinity, Aldersgatestreet, &c. There were also in London the five cells, or hermitages, of St. Catherine, WTapping; St. James in the Wall, Cripplegate; St. Mary Rouncival, Charing Cross; the hermitage of St. James, opposite, and Our Lady of Pien, Westminster. Of the above, the following only exhibit any external remains;-Westminster abbey, independently of its fine church and cloisters, still retains its beautiful chapter-house, the shell of the great hall, the abbot's residence (now the deanery), and to which is attached the ancient kitchen, and the celebrated Jerusalem chamber; the abbey close, with numerous old buildings, and the exterior walls of its spacious gardens. The remains of Bermondsey abbey, consisting of a few fragments of walls, and the side of the east gate leading into Grange-walk, The Charter-house still retains its original gateway in Charter-house-square, several of the njonks' cells., now blocked up, part of the exterior wall surrounding the convent and gardens, and other inferior parts incorporated in walls and passages, &c, Clerkenwell nunneryhas a few square yards of ancient stone, wall next Corporation- row. " The Nonnes Quies," at St. Helen's, still exists, with the original nuns' seats of oak, and the ancient grating, through which they could see divine service performed from the vaulted crypts beneath the hall of the nunnery. Of the nunnery in the Minories very considerable remains were discovered after a fire there in 1797, and there still exists a pqrtion of the south, or street, front of the abbey mansion, behind the houses in the Minpries, besides much of its reverse front, now modernised into Haydon House.. Black friars' has diminished to a solitary piece of dingy stone wall, standing at the top of a passage in Glo'ster-^court, St. Andrew's Hill. Of the White friars' there are only a few fragments of wall behind the houses in Bouverie-street, partly incorporated with the buildings of the Bolt and Tun Inn. The vestiges of the Grey friars consist of the great cloisters and Whittington's library, both about to be demolished, as, have other parts, for continuing the present improvements there. Augustine friars' has the fine nave of its church now occupied as a Dutch place of worship. Of Crutched.friars' there only remain Sir John Melbourne's almshouses, which adjoined the east end of the friary church; they have a curious tablet of the Virgin Mary, encircled by angels. The remains of St. Mary Overey',. which will speedily give way to theapproaches to the new London bridge, consist, besides the fine conventual church, of a considerable length of ancient stone vaulting, supporting a chapel, or hall 5 and various detached parts, in doors, archways, &c.> in Montague- close. Part of the vaulting of Corpus Christ! College remains between St. Lawrence Poultney churchyard and Suffolk-lane. Large remains of St, Martin'sle.- Grand college chapel were discovered in digging the foundations of the New Post-office, the whole of which, as well as every other vestige of this very ancient institution, are now annihilated. The priory, or college of the Holy Trinity, Aldgate, retains part of the south aisle of its Norman church, in a passage .leading from Duke's place to St. James' churchyard. The priory of St. Bartholomew the Great has the whole choir of its Norman church converted into the present church 5 its east cloister, the shell of its diningrhall, with fine vaults beneath, and various smaller parts; the fratry, galleries, prior's house, and various other remains, were destroyed by fire, in May, 1830. -Of the Temple, there remain the very beautiful church, with its circular vestibule, and the tombs of the ancient cross-legged knights, part of the cloisters entering into it, and some ancient Norman arch-work incorporated in the walls of the Inner Temple Society's kitchen. The Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem retains its large and well-known gateway from St. John's-lane, the choir of the conventual church converted, to the present parish, church of St. John (and beneath which is the fine original crypt)., with part of the chapels of the south aisle, and some smaller remains.. St. Mary's Spital has the abutment of its prin? cipal gateway still standing at the corner of White Lionstreet. Elsnige Spital has part of its entrance porch and steeple incorporated in the present parish church of St. AJphage. In St. James' palace may still be discerned many parts of the ancient hospital. The Savoy church is that of its ancient hospital. Of the Domus Conversorym there s.till remains the ancient chapel, called the Rolls chapel: and the hall of the Holy Trinity, Aldersgate, now Trinity chapel, is all that exists of the smaller monastic, foundations.

Amongst the remaining metropolitan antiquities, which are too reduced in number to render a classification necessary, may be enumerated several large fragments of the walls of London, at the back of Forestreet, in Cripplegate churchyard; at the back of the houses in Falcon-square; beneath the houses next Aldersgate, and in St, Bptolph's. churchyard there; at the back of the Old Bailey j at the Cock in the Corner, Ludgate; and at the bacjc of George Al^ey, nqxt Tower-hill: the last, which is by far the largest, oldest, and most per-r feet portion, is intermixed with an abundance of Roman brick. There are some crypts, or stone arched cellars, anciently belonging to religious structures, or mansions; one of the finest specimens of the former was the priory of Lewes chapel, Tooley-street, just demolished for the approach to the New London bridge; there are also remains of another subterranean chapel, or church, beneath the house at the north-east corner of Leadenhallstreet: the most remarkable crypts belonging to ancient mansions are the vaults beneath Gerrard's hall, Basingiane, and at Crosby House, Bishopsgate-street: the great hall, with much of the superstructure, of the latter princely residence is also standing, and may rank as the finest specimen of doinestic architecture in London. The churches which, either. wholly or in part, exhibit fine specimens of ancient building, and were not conventual, are, Bow church, Cheapside, which still retains its fine Norman crypt; and St. Sepulchre's, which latter boasts a beautiful groined avenue from Snow-hill: there are also various ancient parts, or incorporations, deserving notice in the churches of St. Olave, Hartstreet; St. Giles, Cripplegate; St. Andrew, Undershaft, &c. Of the ancient military architectural remains in various parts of the Tower of London, a brief account has already been given; besides which, there were, until destroyed very recently, vestiges of camps and fortified earthworks at Highbury, near White-Conduit-house and Battle-bridge, and at the descent from Gray's-Innlane, the Fleet ditch, &c. The remains of Roman roads connected with the metropolis are nearly obliterated, but may be still imperfectly traced by the diligent investigator, particularly in the old bridle way of Hugbushlane, and in the continuation of Eald street, through Shoreditch churchyard, by Bethnal Green, &c. The most celebrated remnant of antiquity, of all which appertains to London, however, is the supposed Roman mjjliary, in Cannon-street, denominated London stone, which, whether of Roman or British origin, was undoubtedly once of considerable magnitude, and is the first and oldest of our metropolitan antiquities. Of the result of numerous excavations, at various times, in the discovery of Roman tesselated pavements, altars, coins, &c., mention has been made under their proper heads.

Among the numerous distinguished individuals born in the metropolis may be enumerated the following:- Ingulphus, Abbot of Croyland, an English historian, who lived at the time of the Norman Conquest; Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury; Matthew of Westminster, a Monkish historian of the fourteenth century; Geoffrey Chaucer, the first great English poet, born in 1328; Dr. John Colet, the founder of St. Paul's school, born in 1466; Sir Thomas More, author of a political romance, entitled "Utopia," Lord Chancellor under Henry VIII., in whose reign he was beheaded for denying the king's supremacy, born in 1480; John Leland, the English antiquary; John Stow, author of the " Survey of London," born inl525; William Camden, author of the "Britannia," born in 1551; Edmund Spenser, author of the "Fairy Queen," born about 1553; Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, the father of modern philosophy, born in 1561; Edward Alleyn, a celebrated actor, the founder of Dulwich College, born in 1566; Inigo Jones, the reviver of a taste for classical architecture in England, born in 1572; Dr. John Donne, a distinguished poet and divine, born in 1573; Ben Jonson, the dramatist, poet laureate in the reign of James I., born in 1574; John Milton, the author of " Paradise Lost," who was Latin Secretary to Oliver Cromwell, born in 1608; Algernon Sidney, a republican writer, executed on account of the Rye-house plot in 1683, born about 1617; Abraham Cowley, the poet, born in 1618; Sir William Temple, eminent as a statesman and public writer, born in 1629; Dr. Isaac Barrow, a 'celebrated divine and mathematician, born in 1630; Dr. Edmund Halley, celebrated as a mathematician and an astronomer, born in 1656; Daniel Defoe, the author of " Robinson Crusoe," born in 1660; Anthony Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury, a distinguished writer on morals and metaphysics, born in 1671; Colley Gibber, a dramatic writer and actor, poet laureate to George I., born in 1671; Sir John Vanbrugh, an eminent architect and dramatist, born about 1672; Alexander Pope, the poet, born in 1688; George Lillo, a goldsmith, who wrote " George Barnwell," and other popular dramas, born in 1693; Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, distinguished as a statesman and a cultivator of polite literature, born in 1604; William Hogarth, the painter, born in 1698; Dr. John Jortin, a learned theological writer, born in 1698; Dr. Philip Doddridge, an eminent dissenting divine and scripture commentator, born in 1702; John Dollond, the inventor of an achromatic telescope, born in 1706; Dr.Thomas Augustine Arne, a distinguished musician, born in 1710; Richard Glover, author of" Leonidas," and other poems, born in 1712; James Stuart, author of the "Antiquities of Athens," born in 1713; Thomas Gray, author of the " Elegy written in a Country Churchyard," and other works, born in 1716; Sir William Blackstone, author of " Commentaries on the Laws of England," born in 1723; John Wilkes, author of the "North Briton," born in 1726; Charles Churchill, the celebrated satirist, born in 1731; Richard Gough, F.A.S., the editor of Camden's " Britannia," born in 1735; Dr. Samuel Horsley, a celebrated theological writer, born about 1737; Arthur Young, Secretary to the Board of Agriculture, born in 1741; William Mitford, author of a valuable " History of Greece," and other works, born in 1744; Sir William Jones, a celebrated Orientalist and juridical writer, born in 1746; The Hon. Anne Seymour Darner, born in 1748; Capel Lofft, a poet and miscellaneous writer, born in 1751; Dr. John Milner, a learned Catholic prelate, born in 1752; Sir Samuel Romilly, distinguished as a lawyer; and a statesman, born in 1757; George Morland, the painter, born in 1764; The Right Hon. George Can- ning, born in 1770; and George Noel Byron, Lord Byron, the author of " Childe Harold," and other poems, born in 1788.

[Last updated 27 Sep 2021 - 14:50 by Mel Lockie]