Huius nympha loci , sacri custodia fontis,
Dormio dum blanda sentio murmur aquae.
Parce meum, quisquis tangis cava marmora , somnum
Rumpere; sen bibas, sive lavere, tace.

Nymph of the grot, these sacred springs I keep,
And to the murmur of these waters sleep;
All spare my slumbers, gently tread the cave;
All drink in silence, or in silence lave!

You’ll think I have been very poetical in this description; but it is pretty near the truth.
I wish you were here to bear testimony how little it owes to art; either the place itself, or the image I give of it.
After the death of Mr.Pope, in the year 1745, a plan of this garden was published by his gardener, John Serle, with a plan and perspective view of the grotto, and an account of all the gems, minerals, spars, and ores of which it is composed, as well as from whom and whence they were sent.
By this publication it appears, that the subterranean passage and its apartments were incrusted with very numerous and rare specimens of the mineral and fossil kingdoms, both foreign and British; which were supplied by the zeal and friendship of a long catalogue of persons of high distinction and character, to the great honour of Mr.Pope and of themselves.
Sir William Stanhope not only built wings to the house, but made an additional pleasure-ground : and an arched passage, ornamented with rustic work, leads to a very elegant lawn surrounded by a walk, gay with shrubs and flowers, whose cheerful scenery offers a pleasing contrast to the gloom and solemnity of Pope’s garden.
Over this arch is the bust of Mr.Pope, in white marble; beneath which are the following lines, from the muse of the late Earl Nugent:

The humble roof, the garden’s scanty line,
Ill spoke the genius of a bard divine:
But fancy now displays a fairer scope,
And Stanhope’s plans unfold the soul of Pope.

Mr.Welbore Ellis, now Lord Mendip, who married the daughter of Sir William Stanhope, has long been the possessor of this elegant, delightful, and interesting place.
A large ait, well known to the angler for its accommodations, here breaks the river, and divides the picture.
The village part of Twickenham, which is by no means inconsiderable, now appears, with the church, an handsome Doric structure, where the remains of Mr.Pope are deposited.
But the beauty of the place consists in the villas that enrich the banks of the river that flows before it, and the objects which are seen from them.
Below the church is the spacious and new built mansion of Lady Anne Connolly, erected on the site of the ancient house possessed by her brother, the late Earl of Stafford.
Beyond it is the villa of the late Sir George Pocock, built by Secretary Johnson, before whose garden, a screen of lofty poplars, on a narrow islet, has a very pleasing effect.
The house of Mr.George Hardinge catches the eye from the singularity of its appearance.
Its form is irregular, and has the aspect of antiquity; and both these circumstances are increased by the lofty trees which grow immediately before it, whose branches form a kind of irregular trellis-work, through which the building is dimly seen.
We shall not here attempt to discuss the influence of certain appearances on the mind; but we are ready to acknowledge, that the view of this place has ever been attended with peculiar pleasure to us; and we have no small authority to sanction our sensations; as Mr.Gray is known to have expressed a frequent admiration of this picturesque object.
A little further onward, at the entrance of the meadows, is the very elegant villa of Marble hill, seated on a gentle rise, at the termination of an handsome lawn, shaded on either side with trees, and at an agreeable distance from the river.
It was built, from a design of the Earl of Pembroke, grandfather of the present nobleman of that title, by the Countess of Suffolk, the favourite of Queen Caroline, and the friend of Pope, Swift, and Gay.
She bequeathed it to her nephew, the late Earl of Buckinghamshire during his life; and the reversion to Miss Hotham, who, by the death of that nobleman, is lately become the possessor of it.
Beside it, but almost on the margin of the river, is the delightful little residence of Lady Diana Beauclerk.
whose interior decorations, the works of her art, are said to rival the external beauties of nature.
On the opposite shore is Ham house, the seat of the Earl of Dysart, imbosomed, as it were, in those walks, which have been the theme of the poet, and are the delight of the neighbourhood, for the charm of their retirement, and the coolness of their shade.
Nor can we pass by them, without acknowledging that thick mass of foliage which in certain parts of the river appear to form a verdant base to Richmond hill.
Ham house, a very spacious edifice, was erected in the year 1610; and is said to have been intended for the residence of Henry Prince of Wales.
It underwent considerable alterations in the reign of Charles the Second, when it was completely furnished by the Duke and Duchess of Lauderdale; in which state it still remains, a very curious example of a mansion of that age.
The ceilings are painted by Verrio, and the rooms are adorned with the massy magnificence of that period.
It contains several very fine pictures by the old masters, particularly Vandervelde and Woovermans.
The gallery, ninety-two feet in length, which occupies the west side of the house, is hung with portraits.
This mansion was the birth-place of that great statesman and general, John Duke of Argyle, who was grandson to the Duchess of Lauderdale.
His brother Archibald, who succeeded him in that title, and enjoyed the office of lord keeper of Scotland, was born beneath the same roof.
James the Second was ordered to retire to this house, on the arrival of the Prince of Orange in London; but being apprehensive of his safety, fled precipitately to France, and abdicated his kingdom.
Having passed the groves of Ham, those villas of Petersham more immediately present themselves, whose gardens stretch down to the river.
Petersham is a village remarkable for the beauty of its environs, and the country residences which it contains.
The manor, at the time of the conquest, belonged to the abbey of Saint Peter, at Chertsey, from which circumstance the place may be reasonably conjectured to derive its name.
The abbot of Chertsey having given it to Henry the Fifth, it continued for a considerable time in the hands of the crown.
It was settled, among other lands, upon Anne of Cleves, who surrendered it to Edward the Sixth.
James the First leased it to George Cole, Esquire; and it has since undergone the same alienations as the manor of Ham, being now the property of Lionel Earl of Dysart.
According to some authors there was a religious house here, near the church; but there are neither documental authorities, nor any remains of the building, to support such an opinion.
James the Second granted a lease of a mansion here to Lord Viscount Cornbury; which house was afterwards the property of the Earl of Rochester, and was accidentally destroyed by fire, on the first of October, 1721, with the valuable library, manuscripts, and pictures of the Earl of Clarendon, the historian of the Rebellion in 1646.
It was rebuilt by William the first Earl of Harrington, after a design of the Earl of Burlington.
The principal, and indeed only regular front is towards the garden, and not unworthy the taste of its noble architect.
On the death of the late Earl of Harrington it was sold to Lord Camelford, who, in the year 1784, purchased the fee simple of the crown; an act of parliament being procured for that purpose.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence bought it of Lord Camelford in the year 1790: but this charming villa has again changed its owner, and is no longer the residence of royalty.
The pleasure grounds are of considerable extent, and rise from a spacious lawn, in a succession of woody acclivities, to Richmond park.

RICHMOND HILL from Twickenham

RICHMOND HILL up the river

RICHMOND HILL down the river

The summit of the whole overlooks the Thames in its beautiful course, and commands an extensive prospect of the surrounding country.
A small part of the park has been lately added to the gardens, by a grant from his Majesty, which includes the mount where, as tradition informs us, Henry the Eighth stood to see the signal for Anne Bulleyn's execution.
In this parish also is Sudbrook, which was once an hamlet, but is now a single house.
It was the property and residence of John Duke of Argyle; from whom it descended to his daughter, the late Lady Greenwich, who bequeathed it to Lord Douglas, the present possessor.
It is an handsome mansion, situate in a small park, thick with trees, and secluded from every exterior object by the groves and plantations that surround it.
This part of the river, where we shall be some time detained to give an account of one of the most interesting circumstances of it, commands a combination of those objects which form the polished landscape.
The meadows of Mr. Cambridge, so remarkable for their waving surface, the brightness of their verdure, and the richness of their groves, occupy the Middlesex side of the stream, which flows gently on to Richmond bridge, an elegant object, backed by the lofty elms of Twickenham park; while Richmond hill, studded with villas, rises boldly from Petersham mead, and adds its stately height to the beauties that surround it.

RICHMOND

The village of Richmond, so well known, and so much admired for the charms of its situation, received its present name by the royal command of Henry the Seventh, who was himself Earl of Richmond in Yorkshire.
Its ancient denomination was Sheen,which signifying, in the Saxon tongue, bright or splendid, has been conjectured by some writers to be derived from the beauty and magnificence of its ancient palace.
This place is not mentioned in Doomsday-book, but a record of almost equal antiquity, in the Harleian collection, calls it Syenes; which name was, at subsequent periods, spelled Schenes, Schene, and Sheen.
The earliest mention of the manor of Sheen appears to be in the reign of King John, when it was the property of Michael Belet, the king’s butler, at that time an office of high honour, to whose ancestors it had been granted, as an appendage to that office, by Henry the First.
After having passed through a succession of possessors, it reverted to the crown by exchange or forfeiture, and was in the possession of Edward the First, at the conclusion of his reign.
Since that period it has generally been in the hands of the crown, or settled upon some of the branches of the royal family.
It was granted for life to Elizabeth, Queen of Edward the Fourth; to Anne of Cleves, who surrendered it to Edward the Sixth; to Henry Prince of Wales, son of James the First; and to Queen Henrietta Maria.
It was settled also on Oueen Caroline, the illustrious consort of George the Second; and is now held by her present Majesty, whose lease bears date October, 1770.
It has not yet been discovered by antiquarian research, when the manor house at Sheen first became a royal palace.
It appears, however, as has been already mentioned, that it was granted, with the manor, by Henry the First to the family of the Belets; and continued to be the property of subjects, from that time to the close of the reign of Edward the First.
Edward the Second is also known to have made it a place of his residence.
Edward the Third closed his long and glorious reign at this palace, on the twenty-first of June, 1377, as Camden relates, “ from grief for the loss of his brave son, styled the Black Prince, irreparable both to him and the nation."
Here likewise died Anne, wife of Richard the Second; who, as the same historian relates, “first taught the English women the present method of sitting on horseback; before which time they rode in an indecent manner, like the men, astride.”
Richard was so grievously afflicted at her death, that he abandoned the palace, and suffered it to fall into decay, or, as some authors assert, ordered it to be entirely demolished.
Hollinshed says, that “ he caused it to be thrown down and defaced; whereas the former kings of this land, being weary of the citie, used customarily thither to resort, as to a place of pleasure, and serving highly to their recreation.” Henry the Fifth, however, restored it to its former magnificence, and founded near it a small monastery for Carthusians, which he called Bethlem.
Henry the Seventh held a grand tournament at his manor at Richmond, in 1492, when Sir James Parker, in a contest with Sir Hugh Vaughan, for right of coat of armour, was killed at the first course.
In the year 1499, the king being then at his palace, it was accidentally set on fire, and most of the old buildings were consumed: but, as Camden says, “ by the munificence of that prince, it arose like a phoenix out of its ashes, with renovated splendour, and received the name of Richmond.” It had, however, been finished but a short time, when a second fire broke out, which did considerable injury to the stately edifice.
In the same year a new gallery fell down, in which the king and the prince his son had been walking only a few minutes before the accident happened.
Philip the First, King of Spain, having been driven upon the coast of England by a storm, was entertained in this palace with great magnificence, in the year 1506, by Henry the Seventh, who closed his life there in April, 1509.
His successor, Henry the Eighth, kept the festival of Christmas at Richmond the year after he ascended the throne; and a tournament was held there on the twelfth of January; when the king, for the first time, took a part in those exercises.
Among other distinguished circumstances which relate to Richmond palace, it should not be forgotten that, in the year 1523, it received beneath its roof that renowned prince, Charles the Fifth, Emperor of Germany.
When Cardinal Wolsey presented Hampton Court to Henry the Eighth, his majesty, in return, gave him permission to reside in the palace of Richmond; a privilege which he did not fail to enjoy.
Hall relates, in his Chronicle, that “ when the common people, and especially such as had been servants to Henry the Seventh, saw the cardinal keep house in the royal manor of Richmond, which that monarch so highly esteemed, it was a marvel to hear how they grudged; saying,—so a butcher’s dogge doth he in the manor of Richmond.” They were still more disgusted at the cardinal’s keeping his Christmas there, in a public manner, and with great state; when the kina; himself observed that feast with the utmost privacy at Eltham, on account of the plague.
Queen Elizabeth was, for a short time, a prisoner at Richmond, during the reign of her sister Mary: but this circumstance did not prevent her, when she ascended the throne, from making it a favourite place of her residence; and there she closed her illustrious life.
In the reign of this princess, Eric the Fourth, King of Sweden, was received and lodged at Richmond.
In the first year of the reign of James the First, the court of exchequer, the court of chancery, and other public courts, were removed to Richmond on account of the plague.
A similar precaution was also practised in the year 1625.
Henry Prince of Wales occasionally resided at Richmond ; and Charles the First frequently resorted to this palace, where he formed a large collection of pictures.
His majesty also inclosed the park, of ten miles in circumference, with a brick wall.
In 1G36, a mask was performed there before the king and queen, by Lord Ruck hurst and Edward Sackville.
When King Charles was in Scotland, in 1641, the parliament ordered that the young prince should be sent to Richmond, with his governor, Bishop Duppa, who is said to have educated Charles the Second at this place.
In the month of June, 1647, Richmond palace was prepared, by order of the parliament, for the king’s reception; but he then refused to repair thither.
It is mentioned, however, m a newspaper of the twenty-ninth of August of the same year, printed m the Monumenta Vetusta, published by the society of antiquaries, that the king, with the Duke of York and the lords, hunted in the new park, and killed a stag and a buck; and that his majesty was very cheerful, and afterwards dined with his children at Syon.” The Survey taken by order of parliament, in the year 164 9, gives a very minute description of the palace as it then stood.
The great hall was an hundred feet in length, and forty in breadth; and is described as having a screen at the lower end, over which, in the language of the Survey, is “ a fayr foot pace in the higher end thereol: the pavement is square tile; and it is very well lighted and seeled : at the north end is a turret, or clock case, covered with lead, which is a special ornament to that building.” The privy lodgings are described as a freestone building, three stories high, with fourteen turrets, covered with lead, “ a very graceful ornament to the whole house, and perspicuous to the country round about.” A round building is also mentioned, called “ the canted tower,” with a staircase of one hundred and twenty-four steps.
The chapel was ninety-six feet long, and forty broad, “ with cathedral seats and pews.” Adjoining the privy garden was an open gallery, two hundred feet long, over which was a close gallery of the same length.
No mention is made of a library; yet Aubrey, in his Antiquities of Surrey, quotes a French work, entitled Traicte des plus belles Bi- bliotheques, which states, that a royal library was established at Richmond by Henry the Seventh.
This circumstance is also confirmed by a manuscript in the library of Dulwich college, entitled the Household Establishments of Oueen Mary, in which it is mentioned, that William Tillesley was keeper of the library at Richmond, and that his annual fee was ten pounds.
The Survey likewise mentions that the palace was supplied with water by three pipes; one from the white conduit in the new park, another from the red conduit in the town fields, and a third from a conduit near the almshouses rn Richmond, close to the river.
The materials of the palace were valued by the parliamentary commissioners at ten thousand seven hundred and eighty-two pounds, and upwards.
It was purchased the tenth of April, 1G50, by Thomas Rookesby, William Goodrich, and others; and afterwards became the property of Sir Gregory Norton, who had been one of the king’s judges.
All the views of Richmond palace, which are extant, were taken before the middle of the last century, while it remained entire.
Vandergutch’s view, which was engraved for Aubrey’s Antiquities of Surrey, seems to give a very accurate representation of the front towards the water.
A view of the same front is engraved in the Monumenta Vetusta, from a picture belonging to the Earl of Cardigan.
Lord Viscount Fitzwilliam has an ancient painting of Richmond palace, by Vinkerboom, taken from the meadow on tHe opposite side of the water.
Another picture, in the possession of the same nobleman, said to be the work of one of Rubens’ scholars, has been called the front of Richmond palace, towards the Green: but there are many reasons for supposing it to be a representation of the lodge in the old park.
Soon after the Restoration, many of the pictures and statues, formerly belonging to Charles the First, but afterwards alienated, were brought from Richmond to Whitehall.
About the same time, the manor and palace, which had been settled on the queen-mother before the civ il war, were restored to her.
Fuller, who wrote soon after the Restoration, speaks of it as pulled down.
It seems, however, to have been inhabited after his time; and some of the offices still exist.
In the reign of James the Second, it appears to have been in the possession of the crown ; and, according to Bishop Burnet, it has been considered as the nursing place of the pretender, his son.
The site of the palace is now occupied by several houses, which are held on lease under the crown ; among which are those of the Duke of Queensberry, Mrs.
Way, and Mr.Whitshed Keene.
The houses now on lease to Mr.Robinson and Mr.Skinner, as well as that in the occupation of Mr.Dundas, which adjoins the gateway, are a part of the old palace, and are described in the Survey already mentioned, as “ the wardrobe buildings, and other offices, consisting of three fayr ranges of buildings, lying round a fayr and spacious court, embattled and guttured, of two stories high, with garrets, and a fayr pair of strong gates, arched and battled with stone over head, leading into the said court from the Green lying- before Richmond house.
In Mr.Skinner’s garden there still exists the old yew tree, which is mentioned in the Survey, and there valued at ten pounds.
The circumference of its trunk is ten feet three inches.
Edward the Second founded a convent of Carmelite friars near his manor of Sheen, and endowed it with one hundred and twenty marks per annum out of his exchequer; but they were soon after removed to Oxford, and were placed without the North gate of that city.
Henry the Seventh, according to Tanner, in his Notitia, founded a convent of Observant friars, near the palace, in the year 1499.
Hollinshed also mentions the suppression of it in the year 1534 ; but the most learned antiquaries are ignorant of any record respecting its foundation.
In the reign of Henry the Eighth, there were two parks at Richmond, distinguished by the name of the Great and the Little park.
It is probable that they were afterwards laid together; one only being mentioned in the survey of 1G49, which adjoined the Green, and is represented as containing three hundred and forty-nine acres.
It was then called the Little park, to distinguish it from the New park, lately inclosed by Charles the First.
The lodge in the old park was, for some time, the residence of Cardinal Wolsey in his disgrace.
“ The cardinal,” says Stow, “ having license to repair unto Richmond, was there lodged within the lodge of the great park, which was a very prettie house; there my lord lay untill Lent, with a prettie number of servants.” When the crown lands were sold in the last century, Richmond little park was valued at two hundred and twenty pounds live shillings per annum, and sold at thirty-two years purchase, to William Brome, of London, gentleman.
Queen Anne, in the year 1707, granted a lease of the lodge for ninety-nine years, or three lives, to James Duke of Ormond, who rebuilt the house, and resided there till his impeachment in 1715, when he privately withdrew from thence, and went to Paris.
Soon after this event, George the Second, then Prince of Wales, purchased the remainder of the lease, which, after the duke’s impeachment, was vested in the Earl of Arran, and made the lodge his residence: it continued also to be a favourite retirement after he ascended the throne.
His present Majesty occasionally resided there in the early part of his reign; and, about twenty years ago, he caused it to be pulled down, with a design to build a new palace on the site of it; but though the foundations were laid, the plan, which has been said to derive its principal merit from his Majesty’s architectural taste and science, was never carried into execution.
A part of the old park is now a dairy and grazing farm, in his Majesty’s own hands; — the remainder constitutes the royal gardens, which will engage our imperfect description, when we arrive at that part of the Thames, where their verdant and waving slopes form a bank of it.
About a quarter of a mile to the north-west of the old palace, stood the hamlet of West Sheen.
Here, in the year 1414, Henry the Fifth, as we have already mentioned, founded a convent of Carthusians, which he called the house of Jesus of Bethlem at Sheen.
According to Dugdale, the premises on which the convent was bui It, are said to have been three thousand feet in length, and one thousand three hundred and five feet in breadth.
In a manuscript of Florentius Wigornensis, printed in Aubrey’s Antiquities of Surrey, the dimensions of the hall are mentioned, as being forty-four paces in length, and twenty-four in breadth; the great quadrangle was one hundred and twenty paces long, and one hundred broad.
The cloisters appear to have been two hundred paces square, and nine feet in height.
The royal founder endowed his new monastery with the priories of Lewisham, Greenwich, Ware, and several other alien priories, with all their lands and revenues:—he also granted them many valuable privileges and exemptions.
An hermitage was afterwards added to the monastery, and sufficiently endowed.
It is a remarkable circumstance, that within the walls of this religious house, Perkin Warbeck sought a sanctuary, and entreated the prior to beg his life of the king.
That he was afterwards executed is a well known occurrence of the English history.
The learned Dean Colet, founder of Saint Paul’s school, built an house within the precincts of this monastery, as a place of retirement for the latter years of his life; and he died there in the year 1519.
Cardinal Pole also, when a young man, obtained a grant of lodgings at Sheen ; where he passed two years in studious seclusion.
When the Earl of Surrey returned with the corpse of the Scottish king, after the battle of Flodden-field, he is said to have conveyed it to the monastery at Sheen, where it lay for a considerable time, without receiving the rites of sepulture.
Stow says, that, about the year 1552, he there saw a body wrapped in lead, which was thrown into a lumber room, and that he was told it was the Scottish king.
When the priory of Sheen was suppressed, its revenues were estimated at seven hundred and seventy-seven pounds twelve shillings per annum, by Dugdale; and, according to Speed, at nine hundred and sixty-two pounds eleven shillings and sixpence.
Henry the Eighth granted this religious house to his favourite, Edward Earl of Hertford, afterwards Duke of Somerset; and when that nobleman was attainted in 1551, the site of the priory appears to have been granted to Henry Duke of Suffolk, father of Lady Jane Gray, who residecl there.
Oiieen Mary, in her zeal, restored the convent, which, after continuing about a year in its resumed state, was again dissolved at her death.
It was afterwards granted away both by Oueen Elizabeth and Charles the First, and, in 1650, was sold, with other crown lands, by order of parliament.
Charles the Second, soon after his restoration, granted a lease of it, for sixty years, to Philip Viscount Lisle, who, about the same time, obtained from his Majesty a general pardon.
Lord Lisle had always been hostile to the royal cause; but was an advocate for moderate measures, and refused to act as one of the king’s judges.
J hat he deserves all the respect and veneration which this page can demonstrate will appear, when it is known that he was a great patron of literary men, and set apart one day in every week for their reception.
This place at length became the residence of Sir William Temple, who, in Ins political and literary character, did great service and honour to his country.
Here he reposed from his diplomatic labours ; and many of his letters mention the delight he found in this favourite retirement.
In one of them, dated August, 1667, addressed to Lord Lisle, he thus expresses his attachment to it.
“ My heart is so set upon my little corner at Sheen, that while I keep that, no other disappointment will be very sensible to me; and because my wife tells me she is so bold as to enter into talk of enlarging our dominions there, I am contriving this summer, how a succession of cherries may be compassed from May to Michaelmas ; and how the riches of Sheen vines may be improved by half a dozen sorts which are not known there, and which I think much beyond any that are.
In a letter to his father, dated November the twenty-second, 1670, he thanks him lor a present of hve hundred pounds, towards his intended improvement at Sheen; and further informs him, l ' that, as he had before resolved to lay out a thousand pounds, his present will enable him to extend his improvements to ornament as well as convenience.” In another of his epistles he says, “ I spend all the time I possibly can at Sheen, and never saw any thing pleasanter than my garden.” At this place he pursued his literary studies ; and here it was that Swift, who afterwards became such a distinguished character, was litst taken into his family, in the capacity of an amanuensis.
King William, who had known Sir William Temple during his public residence in Holland, and entertained an high opinion of his talents and character, very frequently visited him at Sheen; but could never persuade him to leave his darling retirement, though the most important offices of the state were pressed upon his acceptance.
Nor can we forbear to add, that Swift here first formed his mysterious connection with the beautiful and accomplished Stella, who was born at this place, and whose father was steward to Sir William Temple.
An ancient gateway, the last remain of the priory, was taken down about twenty-five years ago: the whole hamlet of West Sheen, consisting of eighteen houses, was, at the same time, totally annihilated ; when the site was converted into a lawn, and added to the King’s inclosures.
The house upon Richmond green, which now belongs to Lord Viscount Fitzwilliam, was formerly the seat of Sir Ch.
Hedges, secretary of state to Queen Anne; and afterwards the property of the present owner’s maternal grandfather, Sir Mat.
Decker, Bart, an eminent Dutch merchant, avIio added a magnificent room to it for the reception of C leorge the First.
The Green itself is very spacious; surrounded with houses, and planted with trees :—it was originally railed and decorated at the expence of her late majesty Oueen Caroline.
Here Thomson the poet passed his latter years, and closed his life, too soon for his country, but not too soon for his fame.

Remembrance oft shall haunt the shore,
When Thames in summer wreaths is drest;
And oft suspend the dashing oar,
To bid his gentle spirit rest.

The house in which he resided at Richmond was purchased, after his death, by George Ross, Esquire, who, from a veneration for his character, forbore to pull it down; but enlarged and improved it at a very considerable expence.
It is now become the property of the Honourable Mrs. Boscawen, relict of the brave admiral of that name; who has shewn her taste, and displayed her sensibility, by repairing the poet's favourite seat m the garden, and furnishing it with the table on which he wrote many of his poems.
Over the entrance is inscribed, “ Here Thomson sung the Seasons, and their change.” The inside is decorated with quotations from different authors, who have celebrated his talents and his virtues; and, in the centre, appears the following inscription.— “ Within this pleasing retirement, allured by the music of (he nightingale, which warbled in soft unison to the melody of his soul, in unaffected cheerfulness, and genial, though simple, elegance, lived James Thomson.
Sensibly alive to all the beauties of nature, he painted their images, as they rose in review, and poured the whole profusion of them into his inimitable Seasons.
Warmed with intense devotion to the Sovereign of the universe, its flame glowed through all his compositions.
Animated with unbounded benevolence, with the tenderest social sensibility, he never gave one moment’s pain to any of his fellow-creatures, save only by his death, which happened at this place, on the twenty-seventh day of August, 1748.” Mr.Thomson was buried at the west end of the north aisle of Richmond church: but there was no indication whatever of the spot where he was interred, till the Earl of Buchan, very much to his honour, placed against the wall a brass tablet, with the following inscription:— “ In the earth below this tablet are the remains of James Thomson, author of the beautiful poems, entitled the Seasons, the Castle of Indolence, etc, etc, who died at Richmond on the twenty-seventh of August, and was buried there on the twenty-ninth, old style, 1748.
The Earl of Buchan, unwilling that so good a man, and sweet a poet, should be without a memorial, has denoted the place of his interment, for the satisfaction of his admirers, in the year of our Lord 1792.
Richmond park, formerly called the Great or the New park, to distinguish it from that near the Green, was made by Charles the First, who was very fond of the chase, and wished to have a large park well stocked with red and fallow deer, near his two palaces of Richmond and Hampton Court.
Within the space which was marked out for that purpose, the king had large wastes and woods of his own ; but as some parishes had commons, and many private individuals had houses and lands intermixed with them, he found it a work of some difficulty: for notwithstanding he made very liberal offers, and many of the owners consented to part with their lands to oblige his majesty, yet others obstinately refused to alienate their property for any consideration he could offer them.
In short, the clamour became so great, that his majesty was advised to desist from a measure, which threatened to be so unpopular as well as expensive ; it being intended to surround the park with a brick wall: but the king was not dissuaded from his favourite design, which was at length completed; and Jerome Earl of Portland was appointed the first ranger, in the year 1638.
This park was afterwards voted by the house of commons to the city of London; which vote was confirmed by an act of parliament; but at the Restoration it reverted to the crown, and Sir Daniel Harvey was appointed ranger.
Queen Anne granted the rangership to the Earl of Rochester for three lives; after whose death, his successor, who, upon the extinction of the elder branch of the Hydes, became Earl of Clarendon, joined with his eldest son, Lord Cornbury, and sold the grant and remainder for the sum of five thousand pounds to George the First, who granted it to Robert, the second Earl of Orford, then Lord Walpole.
His father, Sir Robert Walpole, frequently enjoyed his favourite amusement of limiting in this park; where he built the great lodge, with his usual munificence, and made other improvements, at the expence of fourteen thousand pounds.
The stone lodge upon the hill was erected by George the First, after a design of the Earl of Pembroke.
On the death of the Ear] of Orford, the Princess Amelia was appointed ranger.
While it was under her care, a law-suit was commenced relative to the right of a foot-way through the park, which was tried at the assizes at Kingston, on the third of April 1758, when the right was established.
Two subsequent suits were also instituted to obtain a coach-way and a bridle-way, but they both failed of success.
The Princess Amelia having surrendered her interest in the rangership soon after the death of her royal father, George the Second, it was granted to the Earl of Bute by his present Majesty; who, on the death of that nobleman, has taken it into his own hands, with a view to improve its beauties, and to employ a small portion of it in agricultural experiment.
Richmond park is near ten miles in circumference, and contains upwards of two thousand acres.
It possesses a fine distribution of hill and dale, and forest scenery.
Its elevated parts command extensive prospects; its vallies are rich in verdure, and its declivities clothed with stately groves.
It is every where enlivened with herds of deer; and when the projected improvements are completed, will be one of the most beautiful parks in this kingdom, which abounds in them.
The village of Richmond, which consists of many handsome and elegant houses, is built on the declivity of an hill, and ascends near a mile from East Sheen, till it gains the summit.
From this elevated spot, the eye, glancing down the woods of Petersham, rests, for a moment, on the massy foliage of Ham walks, when it darts forward at once to the ridge of hills beyond Guilford in Surrey.
The view then embraces the nearer parts of Hampshire, and the distant uplands of Berkshire.
Windsor is clearly seen, with a range of country that skirts the county of Buckingham.
Harrow is the next object that rises in the horizon; and the heights of Hampstead and Highgate, hanging over the metropolis, complete the vast extent of prospect.
The intermediate country is all rich fertility, intermingled with rising spires, stately edifices, and the glimmering forms of inferior habitations.
Beneath the hill the Thames winds its silver stream through meads and gardens, where nature luxuriates, and which taste adorns; while the villas, seats, and villages, that enrich its banks, with their blended beauty, heighten the enchanting scene.
This exquisite prospect, that baffles the utmost efforts of prose, has found no other muse equal to the task of its description but that of Thomson.
This admirable poet, who resided near the spot, and made it the frequent subject of his enraptured contemplation, thus apostrophizes the scene of his idolatry:

........ Say, shall we wind
Along the streams ? or walk the smiling mead ?
Or court the forest glades ? or wander wild
Amid the waving harvests? or ascend.
While radiant summer opens all its pride,
Thy hill, delightful Shene? Here let us sweep
The boundless landscape.
Now the raptur’d eye,
Exulting swift to huge Augusta send ;
Now to the sister hills that skirt her plain;
To lofty Harrow now, and now to where
Majestic Windsor lifts his princely brow.
In lovely contrast to this glorious view,
Calmly magnificent, then will we turn
To where the silver Thames first rural grows.
There let the feasted eye unwearied stray;
Luxurious, there, rove through the pendent woods
That nodding hang o’er Harrington’s retreat;
And, stooping thence to Ham’s embow’ring walks,
Slow let us trace the matchless vale of Thames;
Fair-winding up to where the muses haunt,
In Twick'nham bowers, and for their Pope implore
The healing god; to royal Hampton’s pile;
To Clermont’s terrac’d height, and Esher’s groves;
Where, in the sweetest solitude, embrac’d
By the soft windings of the silent Mole,
From courts and senates Pelham finds repose.
Enchanting vale! beyond whate’er the muse
Has of Achaia or Hesperia sung!
O vale of bliss! O softly swelling hills!
On which the power of cultivation lies,
And joys to see the wonders of his toil.—
Heav’ns! what a goodly prospect spreads around,
Of hills and dales, and woods, and lawns, and spires
And glitt’ring towns, and gilded streams, till all
The stretching landscape into smoke decays.

There is a curious picture of Richmond hill in the possession of the Earl of Pomfret, with a group of figures, accompanied with hawks and hounds: it is supposed to have been painted, but by whom we know not, in the time of Charles the Second.
There is also a view from the hill, by old Tillemans, in the collection of Owen Cambridge, Esquire, at Twickenham, which gives a very accurate representation of the adjacent country.
Nor shall we forget to mention, that the pencil of Sir Joshua Reynolds, relaxing from the more dignified toil of history, has produced a view of theThames, from a window of his villa, near the summit, full of effect, of truth, and beauty.
Among many elegant residences of persons of taste and fashion that crowd this enchanting spot, we shall not forget to mention the humane foundation of Bishop Duppa, who, the year previous to his death, erected an almshouse there for ten poor women, in consequence of a vow he made during the exile of Charles the Second, and endowed it with a suitable revenue.
This pious prelate lived in a very retired manner at Richmond, during the civil war, and till the Restoration of his royal pupil, whom he had educated there.
Indeed, after he was raised to the see of Winchester, he continued to make it the place of his occasional residence, and died there in 1C62.
The king visited his ancient preceptor on his death-bed, and received the blessing which he asked of him.
At the foot of this elevated spot, and on the banks of the river, is a charming villa of the Duke of Buccleugh, which he inherited from the late Duke of Montagu, who built the house, and formed the place.
From the lawn there is a subterraneous passage, which communicates with gardens and shrubberies on the opposite side of the road, that extend almost to the summit of the hill, and possess all the advantages of it.

Here we regain our bark, and renew our voyage, with the high ground that we have just described, covered with houses and hanging gardens, on the right; while the delightful meadows and handsome seat of Mr.Cambridge, long known and distinguished for his taste and literature, are seen to the left, till we arrive at Richmond bridge.
It is an elegant structure of stone, consisting of five arches, from a design of Messrs.
Payne and Couse, and was erected at the expence of twenty-six thousand pounds.
The first stone was laid the twenty-third of August, 1774, and the whole was completed in December, 1777.
The ferry at this place, being an appendage to the manor,belonged to the crown; but, on the building of the bridge, an act of parliament passed to enable the crown to grant the fee-simple of it to the commissioners.
On passing the bridge, Richmond still continues to present a succession of villas, which occupy the site of the ancient palace, and are beautifully contrasted by the shady boundary of Twickenham park, the seat of Lord Frederick Cavendish, on the opposite shore.
1 he first of these is the elegant residence of the Duke of Queens- berry.
It was built by George the third Earl of Cholmondeley, in the year 1708, who furnished its noble gallery with his fine collection of pictures.
That nobleman afterwards disposed of it to the Earl of Warwick; from him it passed to Sir Richard Lyttelton; and from the latter to the late Earl Spenser, who purchased it for his mother, the Countess Cowper.
Its present noble possessor bought it after her death, and transferred thither the pictures and furniture of his seat at Amesbury, in Wiltshire.
Nor is it the least curious or interesting circumstance of this highly decorated mansion, that the tapestry which hung behind the Earl of Clarendon, in the court of chancery, decorates the hall of it.
The next in succession, but which recedes further from the river, is a large brick house, the property of Mrs. Way, widow of the late Lewis Way, Esquire.
In the front of it is an ancient porch, adorned with the figures of two boys in servitor’s dresses, and blowing trumpets; which may explain the denomination of the trumpeting house, given to it in the lease of the premises.
The villa of W hitshed Keene, Esquire, a very distinguished ornament to the river on whose banks it stands, occupies also a portion of the site of the ancient palace.
It is an elegant structure, after the Palladian school, and was built, near forty years ago, by the late Sir Charles Asgill, alderman of London.
Sir Robert Taylor was the architect; and it may be considered as among the best of his works.
In this part of the river the retrospective view possesses every charm of elegant landscape.
The stream is divided by an island planted with poplars; the bridge appears with superior advantage beyond it, backed by Richmond hill, which rises in the intermingled possession of gaiety and grandeur; while the hanging wood of Petersham occupies the distance: the whole forming a picture of uncommon richness and beauty.
The river now makes a considerable bend to the left, and then turning to the right, receives a charming view of Richmond old park, which has been converted into a dairy and grazing farm, and is become a part of his Majesty’s rural amusements.
The boundary is planted with forest trees, and forms a rich bank to the stream.
It offers a line extent of waving verdure, enriched with stately trees, and is adorned by the observatory, an elegant stone building, erected, after a design of Sir William Chambers, in the year 1769 ; while the distance is enlivened by the pagoda in Kew gardens.
The observatory is furnished with a very fine set of instruments; among which are a mural arch of one hundred and forty degrees, and eight feet radius; a zenith sector of twelve feet; a transit instrument of eight feet; and a ten-feet reflector, by Herschel.
On the top of the building is a moveable dome, which is furnished with an equatorial instrument.
This building also contains a collection of subjects in natural history, in good preservation; an excellent apparatus for philosophical experiments; several models; and a collection of ores from his Majesty’s mines m the forest of Hartz, in Germany.
The Reverend Stephen Demainbray superintends the astronomical department.
On the opposite shore is the village of Isleworth, with its elegant villas and ornamented gardens.
The body of the church is a modern structure; but the ancient tower is still preserved; and, being covered with ivy, is a picturesque and venerable object.
At this place a small rivulet falls into the main stream.
In the survey of Isleworth hundred, made in the reign of James the First, and preserved at Sion house, it is called Isleworth river.
It comes from the vicinity of Hayes, in Middlesex; and, stealing through the village of Cranford, waters the park of the Earl of Berkeley at that place, and enters Hounslow heath at Cranford bridge.
It then winds across that uncultivated tract to aid the operations of the powder-mills, which are situated there; and, after passing Whitton, which boasts the elegant villas of George Gosling, Esquire, and Sir William Chambers, it continues its tranquil course, till, at length, it reaches Isleworth, where it turns the large corn-mills of that place; and then pours its waters into the Thames.
The river now proudly flows between the spreading lawns of Sion, and the royal gardens of Richmond ; which, together, form a scene of superior grandeur and beauty.
The latter possess all the charms of decorated nature; while the former are enriched by the stately mansion of the Northumberland family; a splendid example of ancient magnificence.

SION HOUSE from Kew Gardens

Sion house was originally a convent, founded by Henry the Fifth, m the year 1414, for sixty nuns, of the order of Saint Bridget of Zion, thirteen priests, four deacons, and eight lay-brethren.
It was endowed, on its foundation, with a revenue of one thousand marks, which was afterwards increased to one thousand seven hundred and thirty-one pounds per annum.
An abbess and nuns were resident there in the time of Philip and Mary, but were sent away in the first year of Queen Elizabeth.
At the dissolution, the revenues of this religious house amounted to one thousand nine hundred and forty-four pounds eleven shillings and eight pence per annum; after which period the abbess, nuns, lay-sisters, See.
to the number of seventy-three, received pensions during their lives.
The last abbess was interred in Denham church, near Uxbridge; and a great part of the inscription on her grave stone is still legible.
This monastery was granted by Edward the Sixth, in the first year of his reign, to the Protector, Edward Duke of Somerset, who built a superb palace out of its ruins; the shell of which still remains in its primitive state.
After the fall of that potent nobleman, it reverted to the crown.
In the seventh year of Edward the Sixth, it was granted to John Duke of Northumberland; and, on his attainder, James the First gave it to Henry Percy, ninth Earl of Northumberland.
In 1646, the Dukes of York and Gloucester, and the Princess Elizabeth, were sent hither by order of parliament, and were treated with such kind attention by the Earl and Countess of Northumberland, that their unfortunate father, when he visited them in the following year, received no small consolation on finding his children under such friendly care and protection.
From this period it continued to be the residence of the Earls of Northumberland.
In the year 1082, Charles Duke of Somerset married the Lady Elizabeth Percy, the only daughter and heiress of Josceline Earl of Northumberland, by which alliance Sion became the property of that nobleman; who lent it to the Princess of Denmark, during the time that a coolness subsisted between her royal highness and her sister, Oueen Mary.
On the death of Charles Duke of Somerset, in 1748, Algernon Earl of Hertford, his oidy surviving son, succeeded to the title and immense property of his father, and soon after gave Sion to his daughter and son-in-law, the late Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, to whose magnificent taste it owes its present Grandeur and beauty.
The house occupies the site of the monastic church, and is a large and majestic structure.
It is a square edifice of stone, built round a quadrangle; every front is embattled, and ornamented at the angles with embattled turrets: the eastern elevation, which faces the Thames, is supported by arches, that form a grand piazza.
The original gardens were made by the Protector, Somerset, in a style of great magnificence; and, according to the fashion of the age, enclosed within high walls and elevated by terraces: but these were destroyed and levelled by the late noble possessor; and the lower apartments of the house now look upon the beautiful scene, which was excluded by the fastidious pride of former times.
The western lawn, enriched with stately trees, is intersected by a serpentine water, and divided by flourishing plantations from the eastern part of the grounds, which slopes towards the river.
The flower garden contains a large collection of curious trees and exotic plants; and a lofty Doric column rises in it and dignifies the spot.
A part of the walls, that enclose the kitchen garden, forms the only remains of the ancient monastery.
The interior part of this noble edifice is said to have received considerable alterations from the skill of Inigo Jones, in the early part of the last century; but it was the sumptuous taste of the late Duke of Northumberland which completed and furnished it, in its present state of unrivalled splendor.
Among its spacious apartments, where the antique style of decoration has been employed with peculiar felicity, is a spacious antichamber of unique magnificence.
The floor is of scaglioli, and the walls in fine relief, with gilded trophies: but its distinguishing ornaments are twelve large columns, and sixteen pilasters of verde antique, containing a greater quantity of this scarce and precious marble than is now, perhaps, to be found in any building in the world.
The great gallery, which serves for the library and museum, is one hundred and thirty-three feet in length.
The book-cases are formed in recesses in the wall, and receive the books in such a manner as to make them a part of the general finishing of the room.
The whole is finished with the utmost lightness and elegance, in the most beautiful style of the antique, and afforded the first example of stucco-work, finished in England, after the fine remains of antiquity.
The ceiling is richly adorned with paintings, and other ornaments, that harmonize with the beautiful decorations that pervade the other parts of this superb apartment.
Beneath the ceiling runs a series of large medallion paintings, exhibiting the portraits of all the Earls of Northumberland in succession, with other distinguished personages of the noble houses of Percy and Seymour; most of which are copied from original pictures.
At the west end is a pair of folding doors, that open into the garden, which the general uniformity of the library required to represent a book-case: and here, by a very happy thought, are exhibited the titles of the lost Greek and Roman authors, which not only form a very pleasing deception, but, at the same time, afford a curious catalogue of the Authores deperditi.
1 he other apartments are answerable in taste and magnificence to those of which we have given a cursory description.
The principal entrance to Sion is through an arched gateway, with an open colonnade, and a lodge on either side of it.
It was designed by Mr.Adam, and possesses an elegant prettiness; which, however, is better suited to the confectionary ornaments of a desert, than the character of the princely mansion to which it belongs.
We must now return to the Surrey side of the river, where the royal pleasure-ground formed by Richmond gardens, demand, as they deserve, our particular attention.
They were originally laid out by Bridgeman, with all the formality of that taste which prevailed in a former period, when art triumphed over nature, and straight lines and regular shapes were considered as capable of producing the most striking display of magnificence and beauty.
On those principles Richmond gardens were first formed and disposed; nor can it, surely, be considered as an uninteresting episode, if we give some description of their early state, which is now remembered but by few, and w ill, in a few years, be remembered by none.
On entering these gardens, from Richmond green, one of (he hrst objects was a dairy; a neat, but low brick building, to which there was an ascent by a flight of steps, and whose front was ornamented with an handsome angular pediment.
The inside walls were lined with stucco; and the vessels for the milk were of the most beautiful china.
On passing from thence by the side of a canal, and through a grove of fine trees, a temple, situated on a mount, presented itself to the view.
It consisted of a circular dome, crowned with a ball, and supported by Tuscan columns: in the centre of the building was a circular altar, and the ascent to it was by steep and regular slopes.
A return was then made by the dairy, and, having crossed a straight gravel walk, which led from the palace towards the river, there was a wood; a walk in which was terminated by the queen’s pavilion, a neat and elegant structure, containing a beautiful chimney-piece, after Palladio, and the model of a palace intended to be erected in this place.
In another part of the wood was the Duke of Cumberland's house, with a lofty arched entrance, and whose roof, which rose to a point, was terminated by a ball.
On leaving the wood, the next object that presented itself was the summer-house on the terrace, a light small building, with very large and lofty windows, in order to embrace a prospect of the country, and the adjacent view of Sion house.
In this little edifice were two well painted pictures, representing the siege of Vigo, by the Duke of Ormond.
After having passed from thence through a labyrinth full of intricate mazes, there appeared, near a pond of regular shape, a thatched building, in the Gothic taste, called Merlin’s cave.
It was a circular room, supported by foul- wooden pillars, and contained, in separate recesses, several waxen figures, the work of Mrs. Salmon, whose fame will remain while the wax-work in Fleet-street, which she formed and established, is an object of public curiosity.
These figures represented Merlin the enchanter, and his secretary; Queen Elizabeth and her nurse; and the consort of Henry the Seventh and Minerva; or, according to some accounts, a queen of the Amazons.
There was also, at each end of the room, a small collection of modern authors, bound in vellum, with their tides written, in very indifferent characters, on their backs.
Beyond this fanciful edifice was a large oval, of five hundred feet in diameter, called the Forest Oval, which offered a view of the hermitage, backed by a large grove of trees, planted with unvarying regularity.
This building had three doors, or gateways, and the middle part, which formed a considerable projection, supported a kind of ruinous, angular pediment, composed of stones rudely laid together, and partly covered with moss and mural weeds.
The solemnity of the whole was increased by the trees behind it, and a small turret on the top, with a bell, to which there was an ascent by a winding walk.
The entrance to this pile was adorned with a range of iron palisades, finely gilt.
The interior apartment was in an octagonal form, with niches, that contained the bustos of Sir Isaac Newton, Mr.Locke, Mr.Woolaston, and Doctor Clarke; and in an elevated alcove, above the rest, was the busto of the Honourable Robert Boyle, encompassed with rays of gold.
Long avenues of stately elms next presented themselves, which crossing each other, formed large square intervals, that were employed as meadows and corn-fields, or were covered with thickets, where numerous hares, pheasants, and partridges, found a shelter, which was never invaded by the gunner or the huntsman.
An amphitheatre, formed by young elms, and a diagonal wilderness, next succeeded.
They led to the forest walk, which was half a mile in length; at whose termination, a straight path, through a small regular wilderness, completed the tour of the gardens.
They possessed, it is true, all the charms of shade and seclusion; but their extent was divided into little parts without beauty, and large formalities without variety.
The terrace, indeed, from its vast proportions, was not without its claim to grandeur.
It extended the whole length of the gardens, on the side towards the water, and possessed a proportionable breadth; nor was it undeservedly considered as the finest range of terrace-grouncl in this kingdom, if not in Europe.
But it would have offered nothing more than a wearisome length of smooth, unbroken verdure, if it had not overlooked the I hames, with the sloping meads and stately edifice of Sion.
It was supported by a brick wall; and a public road that led to Richmond, which has since been removed, divided it from the water.
Such was the state of these gardens, w inch were the delight of Queen Caroline, who caused most of the buildings that sve have described in them, to be erected ; w hen the taste of his present Majesty, and which has distinguished his reign, consigned Lhem to the improving care of Brown, who well deserved the unlimited confidence reposed in him.
He broke the avenues; rooted up the long lines of dressed hedges; gave the woods a natural shape ; unveiled extensive lawns; destroyed, by a superior magic, Merlin and his cave; dilapidated every tasteless building; formed plantations, which are now grown into effect and beauty; and, conducting a gravel path around the whole, gradually displayed the varying scenery of this charming domain.
Nor was this all: with a daring hand, but directed by superior genius, he destroyed the artificial embankment of the terrace, threw down its unwieldy length, in waving slopes to the water; let in the silver surface of the Thames to the interior parts of the garden; and, having restored nature to those rights, which art had so long usurped, gave her every decoration that was suited to her character, and could illustrate her beauties.
The royal gardens of Richmond are four miles in circumference, and are only separated from those of Kew by a brick wall.
They were lately divided by a road, which has been removed; but the lofty pagoda, which is the distinguished ornament of the latter, serves, in many points of view, to enrich the scenery of the former.
The skill of the architect has not yet been employed to heighten the rural elegance and silvan grandeur of these gardens.
The only buildings to be seen in them are those which compose the menagerie; where an elegant cottage has been erected, which is said to be a favourite retreat of her present Majesty.
The royal pleasure-ground continues to offer a charming object to the river till it reaches Kew, a small village, surrounding a level spot called Kew Green, and is composed of several handsome houses and pleasant villas.
On the western extremity is the royal palace, which will hereafter receive a distinct attention.
This place is mentioned in a court-roll of the manor of Richmond in the reign of Henry the Seventh, and is there written Kay- hough.
In subsequent records it is denominated Kahoo, Kayhowe, Keye, Kays, and Kewe.
Its situation on the banks of the river tempts the antiquary to derive its etymology from the word key, or quay.
Kew, which was formerly an hamlet of Kingston, and is still included within the manor of Richmond, was first erected into a parish by an act of parliament passed in the year 1769.
The parochial chapel is a small brick structure, with a turret, situated near the east end of the Green.
It consists of a nave and a north aisle, the south side having been appropriated to the parish school.
On the south wall a tablet is suspended to the memory of Jeremiah Meyer, of the Royal Academy, late painter in miniature and enamel to his Majesty; and whose superior merit is universally acknowledged in that branch of the arts which he cultivated.
On this marble are inscribed the following lines, from the muse of Mr. Hayley: Meyer! in thy works the world will ever see How great the loss of art, in losing thee: But love and sorrow find their words too weak Nature’s keen sufferings on thy death to speak : Through all her duties, what an heart was thine! In this cold dust, what spirit us’d to shine! Fancy! and truth! and gaiety! and zeal! What most we love in life; and, losing, feel.
Age after age may not one artist yield Ecpial to thee in painting’s nicer field.
And ne’er shall sorrowing earth to heaven commend A fonder parent, or a truer friend.
Nor shall it be passed by unnoticed on this page, though no sculptured marble decorates his last abode, that in the churchyard, near the school-house door, repose the remains of Thomas Gainsborough, one of the brightest ornaments the Royal Academy of this country, or the arts themselves, can boast.
A simple grave-stone mentions nothing more of him, than that he died the second day of August, 1788, aged sixty-one years.
His fame, however, will live while it is the care of the arts to perpetuate their illustrious professors.
Sir Henry Gate held a capital mansion at Kew, in the reign of Edward the Sixth, called the Dairie House, which afterwards became the property of Robert Dudley, the famous Earl of Leicester.
Edward Earl of Devon had also a capital messuage here, in the reign of Oueen Alary.
Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and Mary, the French Oueen, resided at this place.
Leland says,— “ Ad Ghevam hospitio pice Mar ice Gallorum domince celebriorem.
'’ An house, mentioned in a court-roll of Oueen Elizabeth by the name of Suffolk house, but then pulled down, was, probably, the place of their residence.
Sir John Puckering, lord keeper of the great seal to Oueen Elizabeth, was an inhabitant of this place, and received her majesty there with great splendour, in the year 1595 ; of which sumptuous entertainment the following curious account is given, in a letter from Rowland White to Sir Robert Sidney, preserved in the Sidney Collection of State Papers.
“ On Thursday, her majestie dined at Kew, at my lord keeper’s houze (who lately obtained of her majestie his sute for one hundred pounds a yeare land, in fee-farm).
Her entertainment for that meale was great and exceeding costly: at her first lighting, she had a fine fanne, with a handle garnisht with diamonds.
When she was in the middle way, between the garden gate and the houze, there came running towards her one with a nosegay in his hand, who delivered yt unto her with a short well pened speech: it had in yt a very rich jewell, with many pendants of unfilled diamonds, valewed at four hundred pounds at least: after dinner, in her privy chamber, he gave her a faire paire of virginals.
In her bed-chamber, he presented her with a fine gown and juppin; which things were pleasing to her highnes: and, to grace his lordship the more, she, of herself, tooke from him a salt, a spoone, and a forke of faire agate.” Sir Peter Lely, the celebrated portrait painter, frequently sought the retirement of Kew during the latter part of his life.
His house, which is now pulled down, stood on the site of Mrs. Theobald’s pleasant gardens, on the north side of the Green.
The royal palace was originally a small mansion, but afterwards very much enlarged, improved, and ornamented, under the directions of Mr.Kent, for Frederick Prince of Wales; and was the favourite residence of the Princess Dowager to her death.
It contains several very handsome apartments, enriched by a considerable collection of portraits, and other paintings, by the first masters; among which is the celebrated picture of the Florence gallery, by Zofianii.
About the middle of the last century, this house belonged to Richard Bennet, Esquire, whose daughter and heir married Sir Henry, afterwards Lord Capel of Tewkesbury, who died lord deputy of Ireland, in the year 1696.
After the death of his widow, in the year 1721, it became the property and residence of Samuel Molyneux, Esquire, who married her daughter.
That gentleman was secretary to George the Second, w hen Prince of Wales, and is well known as a man of literature, and an rne;enious astronomer.
Doctor Bradley is said to have made the discoveries relating to the parallax of the fixed stars, with an instrument of his invention.
Frederick Prince of Wales, being pleased with the situation, took a long lease of Kew house, from the Capel family, and it is now held by his present Majesty on the same tenure.
The gardens, which contain little more than one hundred and twenty acres, were begun by Frederick Prince of Wales, and completed by the Princess Dowager, who took great delight in super- intending their improvements; and spared no expence in bringing them to their present state of perfection.
These sumptuous pleasure-grounds derive no advantage from their situation, and being, by nature, one unvarying level, command no external prospect.
They are indebted for all their beauty to the exertions of art, which, under the influence of a munificent taste, has adorned them with a great variety of rich, elegant, and curious scenery, and rendered them a suitable retirement to their illustrious possessor.
4 he palace stands on the north side of the gardens, and looks over a spacious lawn, skirted by trees and flowering shrubs, watered by a lake, and terminated by the pagoda; at once a grand, singular, and pleasing object.
On turning towards the left from the house, the first building that presents itself is the orangery, which extends one hundred and forty-five feet in length, and is furnished with subterranean flues, to preserve its tender inhabitants from the frosts of our climate.
At a small distance, in an open grove, and in the way to the physic garden, is the temple of the sun, a circular building of the Corinthian order, with fluted columns, and an enriched entablature.
The inside forms a saloon, highly finished and gilt; in the centre of whose dome is represented the sun; and on the frieze, in twelve compartments, surrounded with branches of laurel, are the signs of the zodiac, in a bold relief.
The physic, or exotic garden, was established by the Princess Dowager of Wales, in the year 1760, under the direction of that celebrated botanist, Doctor Hill, and various plants were collected from every part of the globe, without any regard to expence in procuring them.
After the death of her Royal Elighness, his Majesty bestowed great attention upon this garden, which now possesses the finest collection of plants in Europe, and is daily increasing by the communications of Sir Joseph Banks, the President of the Royal Society, and such other zealous promoters of the botanical science as have opportunities of procuring new seeds and plants from distant parts of the world.
As a proof of the rapid increase of this collection, it was found necessary, about four years ago, to erect a new building, one hundred and ten feet in length, for the sole reception of the plants of Africa.
A catalogue of the plants in the exotic garden was published in 1768, by Doctor Hill, under the name of florins Kewensis: but the world was favoured with a much more copious and scientific work, under the same title, in the year 1789, by the late very ingenious Mr.William Alton, his Majesty’s botanical gardener.
Doctor Darwin, in his beautiful poem intitled the Loves of the Plants, thus celebrates the curious and unrivalled spot.

So sits, enthron'd in vegetable pride,
Imperial Kew, by T hames’s glittering side:
Obedient sails, from realms unfurrow’d, bring
For her the unnam'd progeny of spring:
Attendant nymphs her dulcet mandates hear,
And nurse in fostering arms the tender year;
Plant the young bulb, inhume the living seed;
Prop the weak stem, the erring tendril lead:
Or fan, in glass-built fanes, the stranger flowers
With milder gales, and steep with warmer showers.
Delighted Thames through tropic umbrage glides,
And flowers antarctic bending o’er his tides;
Drinks the new tints, the sweets unknown inhales,
And calls the sons of science to his vales.
In one bright point admiring nature eves
The fruits and foliage of discordant skies;
Twines die gay flow’ret with the fragrant bough,
And binds the wreath round George’s royal brow.
—Sometimes, retiring from the public weal,
One tranquil hour the Royal Partners steal;
Through glades exotic pass, with step sublime,
Or mark the growths of Britain’s happier clime;
With beauty blossom’d, and with virtue blaz’d,
Mark the fair scions that themselves have rais’d:
Sweet blooms the rose, the tow’ring oak expands,
The grace and guard of Britain’s golden lands.

The flower-garden is the next object of attention.
The principal entrance is a gateway of fanciful architecture, which, with stands on either side for rare flowers, forms one end of the garden: the sides are inclosed with high trees, and the other end is entirely occupied by an aviary of large dimensions, whose elevation represents a large bird-cage, with a projecting centre, and correspondent wings, in a mixed style of the Gothic and Chinese.
The parterre is divided by walks into a great number of beds, which bear a succession of all those flowers that blow in our climate; and is refreshed by a basin of water in the centre, enlivened with gold and silver fish.
A short, winding path leads from the flower-garden to the menagerie.
It is of an oval form, with an handsome central basin of water, surrounded by a walk.
The whole is inclosed by a range of pens, for Chinese pheasants, and other large exotic birds.
The basin is the resort of such water fowl as are too tender to live on the lake; and in the middle of it stands a Chinese pavilion, of a most fanciful elegance.
Near the menagerie is seen the temple of Bellona.
It is a square building, with a Doric portico, and crowned with an elliptical dome, from whence it receives the light.
And at no great distance, in a retired walk, is the temple of Pan.
It is of a circular form, consisting of a dome supported by Doric columns, but closed on one side, in order to serve as a seat.
The profile is imitated from that of Marcell us at Rome.
The next object which offers itself to the view is the temple of jEolus, in a raised situation.
It is an open building, like that of the temple of Pan, but of a composite order, in which the Doric is predominant.
Within the columns is a large semicircular niche, which serves as a seat, and, revolving on a pivot, may, notwithstanding its size, be readily turned to any exposition.
At the head of the lake, and near the temple of /Eolus, stands a Chinese octagon building of two stories, which is called the house of Confucius.
The lower story consists of one room and two closets; and the upper contains a small saloon, commanding a very pleasant view of the lake and gardens.
Its walls and ceiling are painted with grotesque ornaments, and small historical subjects, relating to Confucius, and the Christian missions in China.
Near it is the engine which supplies the lake and basins in the garden with water.
It was contrived by that great machinist, Mr.Smeaton, the architect of the Edystone lighthouse, and raises upwards of three thousand and six hogsheads of water in twelve hours.
From the house of Confucius a covered walk leads to a grove; from whence a winding path proceeds to an open plain, on one side of which, backed with thickets, on a gentle elevation, is a Corinthian colonnade, near fourscore feet in length, called the theatre of Augusta: which holds a very distinguished rank among the examples of beautiful architecture that abound in these gardens.
The temple of victory is the next building which presents itself to the view.
It stands on a small hill, and was built in commemoration of the signal victory obtained on the first of August, in the year 1759, near Minden, by the allied array, commanded by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, over the French army, under the Marshal de Contades.
It is a circular building, crowned with a dome, and encompassed with a series of insulated columns, of the Ionic order, fluted and richly finished.
The room, which, from its artificial elevation, commands a pleasant prospect towards Richmond, is finished with symbolical ornaments, representing the standards and trophies of France.
On passing from thence towards the upper part of the gardens, is seen a ruin, built of brick, with an incrustation of stone, in imitation of a Roman antiquity, and conceals a passage for carriages and cattle over one of the principal walks.
The design is a triumphal arch, originally with three apertures; but two of them are now closed up, and converted into rooms, to which there is an entrance by doors made in the sides of the principal arch.
The north front is confined between rocks, overgrown with briers and other wild plants, and topped witli thickets, among which are seen various architectural fragments; and at a small distance beyond the arch, appears the statue of a muse.
In the south view of the ruin, the central structure is bounded on each side by a range of arches, with cornices and other fragments spread over the ground about it, as if fallen from the buildings ; while, in the thickets on either side, are seen the remains of piers and broken walls; and in the distance, through the arch, appears the temple of victory.
The whole forming a solemn, beautiful, and classic scene.
The extremity of the garden, from the palace, is shaded by a large wilderness, on the border of which stands a Moresque building, called the Alhambra.
It consists of a saloon, fronted with a portico of coupled columns, and crowned with a lantern.
The whole is admirably fancied, and the decorations are happily suited to the style and character of the building.
On an open space, in the centre of the wilderness, stands the tower, called the Great Pagoda, designed in imitation of a Chinese Taa.
The base of this curious and extraordinary building is a regular octagon, forty-nine feet in diameter; and the superstructure is likewise a regular octagon on its plan, and, in its elevation, composed often prisms, which form as many different stories of the building.
The lowest of these is twenty-six feet in diameter, exclusive of the portico which surrounds it, and eighteen feet high; the second is twenty-five feet in diameter, and seventeen feet high; and all the rest dimmish in diameter and height, in the same arithmetical proportion, to the ninth story, which is eighteen feet in diameter, and ten feet high.
Hie tenth story is seventeen feet in diameter, and, with the covering, twenty feet in height, to which twenty feet must be added for the finishing on the top; so that the whole structure, from the base to the point of the fleuron, is one hundred and sixty- three feet.
Eacli story finishes with a projecting roof, after the Chinese manner, covered with plates of varnished iron, of different colours; and round each of them there is a gallery, inclosed with a rail.
All the angles of the roofs are adorned with large dragons, being eighty in number, covered with a kind of thin glass, of various colours, which produces a very dazzling reflection; and the whole ornament at the top is double gilt.
The walls of the building are composed of bricks, laid with such attention, that there is not the least crack or fissure throughout the whole structure, notwithstanding its great height, and the extraordinary expedition employed in its erection; it having been begun in the autumn of the year 1761, and completed in the following spring.
The staircase that leads to the different stories is in the centre of the building, and, in proportion to the ascent, the prospect naturally extends, till, from the upper apartment, it embraces a vast range of rich and variegated country, and, in some directions, to a distance of near fifty miles: while to the more adjacent environs, the pagoda presents itself as a very distinguished and striking object.
Near the pagoda, on a gentle ascent, backed with thickets, stands the Mosque, in which are collected the principal peculiarities of the 4 urkish architecture.
The body of the building consists of an octagon saloon in the centre, flanked with two cabinets; the whole finishing with one large and two small domes.
The large dome is crowned with a crescent, and its upright part contains twenty-eight little arches, which give light to the apartment beneath it.
On the three fronts of the central octagon are three doors, giving entrance to the building; over each of which there is an Arabic inscription, in golden characters, extracted from the Alcoran.
Insulated minarets, which rise considerably higher than the building, are placed at either end of it.
With respect to the interior decoration of this singular structure, a peculiar taste has been preserved, though the style of the building has been abandoned.
The walls of the cabinets are painted of a rich rose-colour, and those of the saloon display a bright yellow.
At the eight angles of the room are palm-trees modelled in stucco, and varnished with various hues of green, in imitation of nature: these spread at the top, and support the dome.
The cove is supposed to be perforated, and a brilliant sunny sky appears, very finely painted by that superior artist, the late Mr. Richard Wilson.
In the way from the mosque towards the palace, there is a building whose front represents a Gothic cathedral; it is near sixty feet in length, is flanked by towers, and possesses the form and decorative attributes of that species of architecture.
The gallery of antiques next succeeds: it is designed in a very fine taste, and enriched with every characteristic embellishment.
On approaching the palace, and near the banks of the lake, is the temple of Arethusa; an open building, with a portico of four columns, of the Ionic order; and near it a bridge is thrown over a small channel of the water, to form a communication with the island in the lake.
The design is borrowed from one of Palladio’s wooden bridges; though there is nothing remarkable in it, but that it was erected in the short space of one night.
The building that seems to have completed the architectural splendour of these gardens, and it ranks among the first ornaments of them, is the temple of peace, erected in commemoration of the peace in 1763.
The portico, which is raised on eight steps, consists of six fluted columns, of the Ionic order; the entablature is highly enriched, and the tympan of the pediment is adorned with emblematical basso-relievos.
The room is in the form of a Latin cross, the ends whereof are closed by semicircular sweeps, which contain niches to receive statues; and the whole is finished with a profusion of stucco ornaments, appropriate to the character of the building, and allusive to the title it bears.
When the small comparative space occupied by these gardens is considered, the numerous edifices, which are employed to embellish them, may suggest an idea of parade and ostentation, without propriety, or taste, or beauty; and that, though they may individually do honour to the architect who designed them, they must, from their profusion, load the scene; and rather perplex by their number, than distinguish by their variety.
This idea, however, though it may naturally arise in their minds, who know no more of these royal pleasure-grounds than is to be found in written descriptions, will find no confirmation or similitude of opinion from those who have been so fortunate as to visit them.
Every branch of architecture furnishes, on different occasions, objects proper for the decoration oT a garden; and various species may be allowed to meet in the same composition.
The age and country from whence they are borrowed, may, indeed, have no analogy to the spot to which they are applied; they, nevertheless, become naturalized by their effects to certain scenes of highly cultivated nature.
Kew gardens, possessing in themselves no internal advantage, or external prospect, could not be elevated into early beauty by any other means but such as have been employed, with so much success, to attain it.
The grandeur of a wood requires the slow progress of an age to bring it to maturity; and the quantity of ground was not sufficient to allow a large space to be floated with water.
Richness and elegance are the only characters of which these gardens are susceptible, and plantations and buildings are the only means that could be found to produce them.
Plantations, therefore, were made in varieties of form and composition; and buildings were erected to procure the different effects of grandeur, airiness, and solemnity.
These are so exhibited and contrasted; so grouped and accompanied, and thrown withal into such pleasing and well contrived perspective, as to form a succession of varying scenery, which, through the whole circuit of the garden, continues to charm the eye, to enliven the attention, and to fill the mind with delightful impressions.
It would be at once ungracious and unjust, were we not to add, that, except the house of Confucius, which was designed by Goupy, and the Gothic cathedral, which was from a design of Muntz, the various buildings in Kew gardens are the offspring of that taste and skill which distinguish the professional character of Sir William Chambers.
The old house opposite to the palace, now called the Prince of Wales’s house, was formerly the property of Sir Hugh Portman, who is mentioned-in a letter of Rowland White (preserved in the Sidney State Papers) as the rich gentleman who was knighted by her majesty Oueen Elizabeth, at Kew.
Sir John Portman, his descendant, sold it in 1636 to Samuel Fortrey, Esquire ; it was afterwards alienated by William Fortrey, in 1697, to Sir Richard Levett, of whose descendants it was bought in trust for her Majesty, in the year 1781.
The late queen had taken a long lease of it, which was not then expired.
During this lease, it was inhabited by different branches of the royal family.
Here the Prince of Wales frequently resided during the course of his education, under the superintendance of Doctor Markham, the present Archbishop of York.
This mansion appears to have been erected about the reign of James the First, or Charles the First; and a considerable number of ancient elms shade the space between the house and the river, and heighten the venerable appearance of the place.
Almost immediately before it.
tire river is divided by a large island, which is laid out in shady walks, and contains an house of public entertainment, which is well known to the lovers of angling, and is much frequented by water parties from the metropolis.
On the opposite shore is Brentford, the county towir of Middlesex.
It chiefly consists of one irregular street, of great length, composed of houses of an inferior appearance; and though plantations have been made, in the intervening meadows, to screen it from the view of Richmond gardens, it still offers an unpleasing object to the river.
Brentford is a chapelry belonging to Great Ealing; and, in a chapel at the west end of the town, was founded, by Henry Somerset, chancellor of the exchequer to Henry the Sixth, a friary, or hospital of the nine orders of angels, valued, at the dissolution, at forty pounds per annum.
Here the Thames was anciently so shallow (as it still continues to be at low water), that in the year 1016, Edmund passed it twice in pursuit of the Danes, whom he drove away from those parts.
In 1642, Charles the First, alter his victory at Edge hill, marched his army to this place, where he attacked the parliament forces, drove two of their best regiments out of the town, with the loss of their commander, and took five hundred prisoners.
In this action Patrick Ruthven, Earl of Forth, displayed such uncommon bravery and superior conduct, that he was promoted to the rank of general of the king’s forces, and advanced to the dignity of Earl of Brentford ; which title became extinct at his death, in the year 1651.
The little river Brent, which gives a name to this town, rises near Barnet, in the same county, and, passing down between Hendon and Hampstead hills, it is augmented by several lesser streams.
It then continues its course by Hangerwood to the pretty village of Hanwell, and soon enters the superb domain of Osterly park, the seat of the late Robert Child, Esquire; which not only ranks among the finest places in the vicinity of London, but would maintain that character in any part of the kingdom.
The site of the present structure, and part of the appertinent demesne, anciently belonged to Sion.
After the dissolution of religious houses, it was granted by the crown to the Protector, Somerset, on whose attainder, it was granted, with the manor of Heston, by Queen Elizabeth, to Sir Thomas Gresham, who erected a noble mansion on the spot; and from whom, through a succession of proprietors, it passed to the family ot the Childs, in the beginning of the present century.
Robert Child, Esqu ire, the last male survivor of his family, greatly altered, and, as it is generally said, improved this noble building.
Some change may with propriety he made in the internal arrangement of ancient houses, to suit them to modern convenience; but to modernize their exterior appearance, is to destroy the venerable grandeur of their character: nor can we consider it as consistent with true taste, to dress up the architectural magnificence of Queen Elizabeth’s days, with decorations borrowed from the temples of Greece.
Osterly house is a very large structure, of a square form, with a turret at each outward angle.
The ascent to the east front, is by a grand flight of steps to a portico, or screen of six large Ionic columns, that support a pediment, and range before the court.
The apartments, which are numerous, and of large dimensions, are enriched with a various profusion of the most sumptuous embellishments and superb furniture; and the gallery, a magnificent room of one hundred and thirty feet in length, contains a collection of pictures, which is among the finest in this kingdom.
The park is six miles in circumference, abounds with wood, and is pleasingly refreshed with water; and though it does not command any great variety of external prospect, possesses within itself some very pleasing features, and a general character of extent and grandeur.
The gardens possess all the beauty they are capable of receiving.
Elegant buildings, fine trees, curious shrubs, with every native and exotic flower, enrich and adorn them.
The menagerie, while Mrs. Child (afterwards Lady Duciej lived, was the first place of its kind in this kingdom, and contained not only a very large, but an unique collection of foreign and curious birds: nor was any expence spared to maintain and augment it; but since the death of that lady, and the descent of this fine place, with the rest of her immense property to her grand-daughter, who is a minor, the birds have been disposed of and dispersed, and are now only to be seen in the superlative representation of them by Mr.Hayes, of Southall, in his very fine work, intitled the Osterly Menagerie.
— Nor shall we forget to observe, to the honour of British commerce,— that this magnificent place owes its original grandeur, and its late sumptuous improvements, to commercial men.
The river Brent, on quitting this charming place, steals almost imperceptibly along, till it reaches Brentford, and approaching Sion house, falls into the Thames.
From Brentford a considerable trade has long been carried on in corn, malt, and other commodities, by the Thames, to the capital; but the grand junction canal, now forming with an inconceivable rapidity, to unite the canals of Warwickshire, Staffordshire, and Lancashire, with the tide of the Thames at this place, will greatly add to its commercial importance, and promises to produce such an increase in the navigation of the river between Brentford and London, as fully to answer, if not exceed, the most sanguine expectations that have been formed concerning it.
With the wharfs of Brentford on one side of the river, and Kew green on the other, we now approach Kew bridge, an handsome stone structure, built after a design of Mr.Payne, and completed in September, 1789.
It is four hundred feet m length, exclusive of the abutments, and consists of seven arches, the central one of which is sixty-six feet wide, and twenty-two feet high.
It is the private property of Robert d unstal, Esquire, having been erected at his expence, as the former one of wood was built at the expence of his father.
Having passed the bridge, the Surrey side of the river offers nothing to the view but a range of meadows, and the pagoda in Kew gardens, whose upper part is seen from the water.
Strand on the Green, an hamlet of Chiswick, lines the shore to the left; and several handsome houses have lately risen among the cottages of fishermen, who, till within these few years, were the only inhabitants of the place.
The stream is here divided by a small island, which has been embanked, and ornamented with a 'wooden building, in the form of a castle, by the Thames committee, whose barge lies along side it; a very large and curious vessel, fitted up as an habitation for those persons who are appointed to receive the tolls which the city of London is impowered to collect from the trading barges, according to their tonnage, to pay the interest of the loan raised to improve the navigation of this part of the river.
The Thames now hastens to assume a new character; and its banks will soon change the beauties of rural landscape for the artificial scenery of opulent villages, the apparatus of various manufacture, and the successive display of trade and commerce.
The scattered hamlet, the lonely farm, and the pleasing pictures of rustic toil, will be succeeded by the wharf, the warehouse, and the contrasted operations of mechanic labour; while the venerable seat and splendid mansion, with their stately shades and elegant retirement, will be ill exchanged for the trim garden, the street that lengthens on the shore, and the busy hum of men.
The very handsome villa of Mrs. Luther, which is situated in the parish of Chiswick, with its pleasant and woody gardens, now captivate the attention.
From thence the river makes a bold bend to the right, and, in a fine calm reach of near a mile in length, where rich meadows and arable grounds are seen, for the last tune, on either bank, it approaches the village of Mortlake.
The name of this place has been generally supposed to be derived from mortuus lacus, or the dead lake, from the appearance of the river on its approach to it.
In Doomsday-book it is called Mort- lage, which, in the Saxon language, signifies a compulsive law; a derivation which does not appear to add much illustration to the etymology of it.
This village is of considerable extent, and includes six hundred and fifty acres inclosed in Richmond park, where the parochial boundaries extend almost to the great lodge.
At the extremity of the parish, towards Richmond, his Majesty has a farm of about eighty acres, in his own occupation; which is cultivated with great skill and attention.
The barns and granaries were built, and the farm yard made, with all suitable conveniences, about eight years since.
Two hundred and fifty acres of this parish are employed in garden ground, to supply the London market; and among the more common esculent plants, great quantities of asparagus are sent thither from this place; not less than sixty acres being appropriated to the production of that vegetable.
Archbishop Cranmer, whose ecclesiastical predecessors had been successively possessed of this manor from the time of the conquest, exchanged it for other lands with Henry the Eighth; who afterwards granted it to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex; and, after his attainder, it was settled upon Oueen Catherine Parr for life.
The house was probably dilapidated soon after, and the manerial residence removed to Wimbledon, in which manor it is now included.
No trace of Mortlake house remains at this day, but the foundation of a wall, which forms the boundary, towards the river, of a garden, m the occupation of Mr.Penley.
In Holinshed’s Chronicle, there is a curious account of a monstrous fish, which came up the Thames, and was taken opposite the king’s manor house at Mortlake, A.D. 1240.
The temporality of the see of Canterbury being then in the king’s hands, who kept it vacant three years after the death of Saint Edmund.
Leland, who wrote in the reign of Henry the Eighth, speaking of Mortlake house, in his Cygnea Cantio, says—

Dehinc et mortuus est lacus, superba
Villai effigies , domusque nota.

Oliver Cromwell, who by different traditions is related to have resided in almost every village in the vicinity of London, is said also, amongst the rest, to have made Mortlake a place of his residence, and in the house which is at present inhabited by the Miss Aynscombs.
But be that as it may, this house was actually occupied, in the beginning of the present century, by a much better man, the benevolent Edward Colston ; whose name, though it may not be found in the brilliant page of national history, is, we doubt not, written in the register of life.
This gentleman, while he lived, expended upwards of seventy thousand pounds in charitable institutions, chiefly in the city of Bristol, where he died in the year 1721; and in which place, his living and testamentary charities are honoured and acknowledged by annual commemorations.
Mortlake was also the residence of the celebrated Doctor Dee, whose great reputation was established in foreign countries, as well as in his own.
He flourished in the reigns of Edward the Sixth, Oueen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and Tames the First.
King Edward honoured him with his royal patronage; but he was more peculiarly favoured, and, according to some writers, confidentially consulted, on various occasions, by Oueen Elizabeth.
Doctor Dee was a man of indefatigable research, and singular erudition.
He is said, when at Cambridge, to have applied with such diligence to his studies, that he allowed himself only four hours for sleep, and two for meals and recreation.
He afterwards went abroad to attain further improvement; and, at the age of twenty- three years, read public lectures at Paris, on Euclid’s Elements, with the greatest applause.
His various writings, both printed and in manuscript, m almost every science, prove him to have possessed uncommon learning, he wrote upon the reformation of the Gregorian calendar; on the mode of propagating the Gospel on the other side of the Atlantick; on geography, natural philosophy, particularly optics, mathematics, metaphysics, astronomy, and, winch rendered him more remarkable than all the subjects of Iris various inquiry, on astrology and the occult sciences.
He lived in an age of great credulity, and employed his superior knowledge in making the prevailing superstitious spirit subservient to his public reputation, if not to his private advantage.
Hence his pretended communication with spirits, and boasted acquaintance with astrological influences.
These pretensions hie is said to have applied, some time before his death, to the discovery of stolen goods, in order to procure a support: his want of economy having reduced him, at the close of life, to very narrow circumstances.
He died at Mortlake in the year 1608.
The house where this extraordinary man lived, as appears by a survey of Mortlake taken in 1607, is now the property of Richard Goodman Temple, Esquire, when it was called an ancient house.
There is good reason for supposing that it was built in the time of Henry the Seventh, as an old room is still remembered in it, which was ornamented with white and red roses, the well known symbols of union between the houses of York and Lancaster.
Mortlake church appears to have been first erected about the year 1348; but the only part of the original structure now remaining is the outward door of the belfry.
In 1543 the church was rebuilt, according to the date upon the tower, and the east wall of the chancel.
A few of the windows, with the Hat arches which were in use in the reign of Henry the Eighth, are still remaining.
In the year 1725, a part of the church was rebuilt, and the whole considerably enlarged.
The font is curious from its antiquity, having been given by Archbishop Bouchier, in the time of Henry the Sixth, as appears by his arms, which form a part of the rich sculpture that adorns it.
In the chancel of this church repose the ashes of that excellent man and distinguished citizen, Sir John Barnard, Knight, who, during a long succession of years, was alderman and representative of the metropolis of his country; and whose name will be held in veneration by the citizens of London, while they possess a love of public virtue, and a sense of public service.
As a grateful memorial of the active fidelity with which he promoted the commercial interests of London, its merchants, during his life, erected a statue of him on the Royal Exchange.
At the same time, in honour of his great public character, Lord Cobham inscribed his name in the temple of worthies in his gardens at Stow; and Pope has immortalized him, in the same verse, with the Man of Ross.
This most excellent and eminent man died at Clapham in the year 1761.
A manufactory of fine tapestry, being its first introduction into England, was established here in the year 1619, by Sir Francis Crane.
The king patronized the undertaking, and gave the sum of two thousand pounds for its encouragement.
The premises afterwards came into the possession of the crown; and, during the civil war, was seized as royal property: after the Restoration, Charles the Second expressed an intention to revive the manufactory, and sent Verrio to sketch the designs; but it was never carried into execution.
About fifty years ago, a manufactory of delf and earthen ware was also established in this village, by Mr.William Sanders, which still continues to he carried on by his son.
East Sheen, so well known for its pleasant situation and hand some villas, is an hamlet of this parish.
In this part of our voyage, where we checked its progress awhile to give this village history, the Thames, particularly when a full tide favours the view, presents itself in a more enlarged form than it has hitherto assumed; and, with the accessory circumstances on either side, offers a landscape of no common beauty.
The river stretching on, in a very bold and broad reach, occupies the centre of the picture.
To the right is seen the village of Mortlake, with the tower of the church, and several pleasant gardens, that enliven the banks of the stream.
The range of buildings beyond, which forms Barnes Terrace, forces back the eye to the fine display of water before it.
On the opposite side of the river, and across a wide, natural lawn of verdant meadows, the dome of Chiswick house is seen to arise amid its shady groves: other handsome villas, and Chiswick church, succeed in the view, till the hills of Hampstead and Highgate appear, in pleasing perspective, beyond a distant bend of the river, and complete the prospect.
To Mortlake immediately succeeds that part of the village of Barnes which is called the Terrace, and has been already mentioned.
It is a long range of buildings on the bank, planted with trees, and containing a few pretty houses, intermixed with a larger number of inferior construction.
Of its situation we shall say nothing more, than that it commands great part of the prospect which we have just attempted to describe.
Barnes, in the Conqueror’s survey, is called Berne, which, in the Saxon language, signifies a barn.
According to Dugdale, in his History of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, the manor of Barnes, or Barn Elms, was given to the canons of Saint Paul’s by King Athelstan, and, except the temporary alienation of their property, during the government of the commonwealth, it has ever since continued in their possession, and been enjoyed by their lessees.
In the year 1589, Sir Francis Walsingham appears to have been one of them, as he then entertained Oueen Elizabeth, and all her court, at Barn Elms.
Lord Talbot, in a letter to his father, the Earl of Shrewsbury, preserved in the valuable collection of the Talbot Papers, published by our excellent and learned friend Edmund Lodge, Esquire, Lancaster herald, expresses himself in the following manner: “ This daye her majestic goethe to Barn-ellmes, where she is purposed to tary all day, to-morrow being Tewsday, and on Wednesday, to return to Whytehall agayne.
I am appoynted among the rest to attende her majestie to Barn-ellmes.
I pray God my diligent attendance there, may procure me a gracious aunswere in my suite at her return; for whilst she is ther, nothinge may be moved but matter of delyghte, and to content her; which is the only cause of her going thither.
May 26, 1589.
Some time previous to this visit, the queen had taken a lease of the manor of Barn Elms, to commence after the expiration of that granted to Sir Henry Wyat in the year 1600 ; which interest in this lease she granted by letters patent, bearing date the twenty-first year of her reign, to Sir Francis Walsingham and his heirs.
His only surviving daughter had the extraordinary fortune of being wife to three of the most accomplished men of that age; Sir Philip Sidney, the Earl of Essex, and the Earl of Clanrickard.
Her second husband, so eminent for his high station, so admired for his great qualities, and so much pitied lor his unhappy fate, resided, after the death of his father-in-law, at Barn Elms, which was then called one of his houses.
The manerial estate was sold, with other church lands, by the parliament, during the time of the commonwealth ; but, at the Restoration, the dean and chapter of Saint Paul’s were again put in possession of their alienated property; and, about the middle of the present century, it was purchased by Richard Hoare, Esquire, father of the late Sir Richard Hoare, Baronet, whose widow now holds it under the dean and chapter.
Heydegger, the well known master of the revels, was a temporary tenant of the house, before Mr.Hoare made the purchase of it.
Of that singular character the following story is related, which, as it is connected with the place, may not be considered as an intrusive anecdote.—The late king ordered notice to be given, that he would sup with him on a certain evening, and that he should come from Richmond by water.
It was Heydegger’s profession to invent amusements, and he was determined to surprise his majesty with a specimen of his art.
The king’s attendants, who were in the secret, contrived that he should not arrive at Barn Elms till it was so dark, that it was with some difficulty he found his way up the avenue which led to the house.
When, therefore, he arrived at the door, it was all obscurity; and hie began to express his resentment that Heydegger, to whom a special notice had been sent of his intended visit, should be so ill prepared for his reception.
Heydegger suffered his majesty to give vent to his anger, and affected to make some awkward apologies; when, in an instant, the house and avenues were in a blaze of light: a great number of lamps having been so disposed, as to communicate with each other, and to be lighted at the same moment.
The king is said to have laughed very heartily at the device, and to have declared himself much satisfied with the entertainment which he had received.
The manor house is situated in a small park, at an agreeable distance from the river.
It was modernized and enlarged by the late Sir Richard Hoare; and the fine elms that grow about it not only adorn, but distinguish the place, and give it a character which is possessed by few villas in the neighbourhood of the metropolis.
The pleasure-grounds in the back front, are more inclosed and retired.
They form a spacious lawn, surrounded with shrubberies and plantations, which were disposed with great taste at the time the house was improved, and are now grown into shade and beauty.
Near this charming mansion, is an house which formerly belonged to Tonson the bookseller, at the time when he was secretary to the Kit-cat club.
Here he built a room for their reception, in which they held their meetings.
This apartment was decorated with the portraits of the members, painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller, which are so well known by the mezzotinto engravings of them.
Bam Elms was also the temporary residence of Cowley.
Doctor Spratt, in his life of that poet, attributes to the place a character which it is not at present supposed to deserve; and imputes to its unhealthy situation the disorder which conducted his friend to the grave.—“Out of haste,” says he, “to be gone from the tumult and noise of the city, he had not prepared so healthful a situation as he might have done, if he had made a more leisurable choice: of this he soon began to feel the effects at Barn Elms, where he was afflicted with a dangerous and lingering fever.”
He afterwards removed to Chertsey, as we have mentioned in the history of that place, where he died.
The church of Barnes is about half a mile from the river, and is considered as one of the most ancient churches in the vicinity of London.
Antiquarian opinion determines its foundation to have taken place in the reign of Richard the First.
The windows in the north wall of the chancel, are, according to the architecture of that period, narrow and pointed.
The rest of the building is of subsequent dates, and the enlargement of the north aisle, so late as the year 1787.
A benefaction of Edward Rose, citizen of London, to this parish, is accompanied with circumstances so peculiar, and, to our feelings, so interesting, that we cannot take our leave of this place without giving an history of it.
He died in July, 1653; and, on the south outside wall of the church, between the buttresses, is fixed a small tablet of stone, to his memory.
The space between the buttresses is inclosed with wooden pales, and in the inclosure rose-trees are planted, on each side of the tablet.
This curious arrangement was made in pursuance of this person’s will, who left (he sum of twenty pounds, to purchase an acre of land for the poor of the parish of Barnes; but the churchwardens were specially restricted, out of the profits of the said acre, which, from fortunate circumstances, now produces five pounds per annum, to keep the wooden pales m constant repair, to preserve the rose-trees, and, whenever they should decay, to supply their place with others.
If this singular bequest was made by the testator with an harmless desire to perpetuate his name, the object has been completely obtained; as the direction of his will has been rigidly obeyed: and though ail hundred and forty years have passed away since his remains were consigned to the grave, the pales that surround it are kept in good repair, and the rose-trees continue to flourish over it.
The parish of Barnes, which forms a kind of peninsula, occupies so great a length of the river, that the shore opposite to it finds space for the large villages of Chiswick and Hammersmith.
Chiswick is not mentioned in Doomsday-book, though it is found in certain records of Henry the Third, where it is written Chesewicke.
It has two manors.—One of them belongs to the prebendary of Chiswick, in the church of Saint Paul's, which, in the beginning of the present century, was let, as it has ever been since the reign of Oueen Elizabeth, to the dean and chapter of Westminster.
There was on it a fair house, to which, in the time of the plague, the scholars of Westminster were usually removed; and sometimes also for relaxation in the summer.
The other manor is called the Dean’s Manor, because the dean and chapter of Saint Paul’s are the lords.
This place contains many pleasant country houses, which stretch along the banks of the river.
But it is the boast of this district of the Thames to possess, in the beautiful villa of the Duke of Devonshire, what would grace the banks of the Arno or the Tiber.
This admirable edifice was designed and erected by Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington, whose skill in architecture has been proved by his works, and whose encouragement of his favourite science greatly promoted the progress of that taste, which has since produced so many fine architectural examples in this country.
The general idea of this building is taken from Palladio; on whose works the noble architect had formed that taste which enabled him to rival his master.
The structure is no more than seventy-five feet square, exclusive of the portico ; but it possesses an harmony of parts, a chasteness of design, and a classic elegance, which has rendered it, in the opinion of the best judges, a model of architectural beauty.
The ascent to the house is by a double flight of steps, on one side of which is the statue of Palladio, and on the other that of Inigo ones.
The portico, which is of the finest proportions, is formed by six fluted Corinthian columns, with an angular pediment, and an entablature profusely decorated with the enrichments of that beautiful order.
It is seen, with the happiest effect, between a short avenue of cedars of Libanus, which the noble architect, with his usual judgment, planted before it.
T he octagonal saloon finishes at top in a dome, by which it is lighted ; and the apartments that surround it are fitted up in a style suitable to the exterior form of the building, and furnished with a collection of pictures, which contains many capital works of the first masters.
The front towards the garden is less ornamented, but possesses a noble simplicity, no less worthy of the genius that designed it, than the more laboured parts of this charming structure.
The house, with till its attractions, being too small for domestic convenience, the present noble possessor has lately enlarged it, by the addition of two wings, which have not added to its beauty.
England may, at this time, boast the best architects in Europe, and as the most eminent of them was employed in executing this design, we are to conclude that it was altogether impracticable to form an addition that would not diminish the beautiful appearance of this chef d’oeuvre of the Earl of Burlington.
The gardens, whose groves, lawns, and avenues, are enriched with a profusion of buddings, statues, obelisks, and sculptured ornaments, are of considerable extent; and, though this style of decoration does not suit with the genius of modern gardening, yet, when we consider the incapacity of the spot, from its low and level situation, to produce what is considered as landscape beauty, its vicinity to a great city, and that the whole assumes the character of an Italian villa, it does not appear to us, that a better disposition could be made, nor more suitable decorations be produced, than was given to the place by the classic taste that originally designed it.
Some of the walks, indeed, open to a park, where a large expanse of verdure, negligently shaded with trees, and enlivened with herds of deer, affords a very pleasing contrast to the highly embellished and artificial scenery of the gardens.
“ Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington,” says Lord Orford, “ possessed every quality of a genius and an artist, except envy.
Nor was his munificence confined to himself, and his own houses and gardens: he spent great sums in contributing to public works; and was known to choose that the expence should fall on himself, rather than that his country should be deprived of certain beautiful structures.
His enthusiasm for the works of Inigo Jones was so active, that he repaired the church of Saint Paul’s Covent-Garden, because it was the work of that great master.
He also purchased a gateway at Beaufort garden, in Chelsea, designed by the same genius, and transported the identical stones to Chiswick, to be reinstated there in their original form.
With the same zeal he assisted Kent in publishing the designs for Whitehall; and gave a beautiful edition of the antique baths from the drawings of Palladio, whose papers he procured with great cost.
Besides his works on his own estate at Lonsborough, in Yorkshire, he new fronted his house in Piccadilly, which was built by his father, and added the grand colonnade within the court; an imposing example of the purest architecture.” The house at Chiswick, which led to this account of the genius that designed it, has been already mentioned.
His other works were the dormitory at Westminster school; the assembly-room at York; the villa of the late Lord Harrington at Petersham; the Duke of Richmond’s house at Whitehall, lately destroyed by fire; and that of General Wade, now belonging to Sir John Call.
Baronet, in Cork street; where Mr.Wvat has had another professional opportunity of intruding on the architectural beauties of the Earl of Burlington.
Having been so long occupied with a spot, where we have been dazzled with all the splendour of art, we pass on with eager step to Corney house, the villa of Sir Charles Rouse Boughton, to be delighted with the superior splendour of nature.
This place has within itself an appropriate elegance, and, from exterior circumstance, may be said to possess grandeur.
It is not large; but such objects are commanded from it, that no diminutive idea can he connected with it.
When we mention its comfort, its convenience, and its beauty, we must add, that it possesses them all without the parade of pretensions.
Its position is at a considerable distance from the public road.
The lodge opens upon a lawn, where the house is placed in such a charming nook, that, though it belongs to the large village of Chiswick, the luxuriance of rural beauty predominates, and no greater number of buildings appear in the view from it, than are sufficient to embellish the scene.
The garden, which occupies the space between the house and the river, is terminated by a terrace that takes the length of it.
Near the centre is an octagon building, which contains a very handsome room, and is a conspicuous object from the water.
The intervening lawn is rich in shrubs and flowers; and boasts two mulberry trees, whose wide spreading shade, picturesque form, and venerable age, justify us in considering them as wonders of the vegetable world.
The view from the garden is divided, by a line group of elms, into two pictures.
That to the right comprehends a bold, broad, and bending reach of the river, terminated by Barnes Terrace, an intermingled scene of houses and of trees.
The rich uplands of Roehampton rise in a near horizon beyond it: the eye then returns over the High ground of Barnes common ; and resting, for a moment, on the venerable tower of Barnes church, completes this part of its delightful progress.
To the left of the elms, the Thames presents itself m equal length and extent, though with some small interruption, from a large ait covered with osiers.
As the stream loses itself in a distant meander, its banks appear to be enlivened with a small part of the vi llage of Hammersmith, backed by the high woody grounds of Holland house, near Kensington.
On the other side of the river, and nearly opposite toCorney house, is Hutch in’s farm, a delightful object, screened with trees; and whose pastures, covered with cattle, spread before it in a gentle descent to the water.
No meagre willows impoverish the scene; but groups of forest trees stretch along the shore; and, though they confine the view, form a charming contrast to the silver stream that reflects them.
The same prospect is seen from the house, but is broken, by the trees in the garden, into a variety of lesser pictures.
In the remaining part of our voyage we shall see the Thames in all the magnificence of navigation; its waves yielding to vessels of every form, and its banks covered with buildings for the residence of wealth, or the occupations of commerce; but such a polished scene of rural beauty, as that which presents itself to Corney house, we shall behold no more.
These premises appear, from authentic records, to have been in the possession of William Lord Russell of Thornhagh, and, afterwards, of Francis the first Earl of Bedford, in the early part of the last century.
Since that period they have passed to various persons, and at length came into the possession of the widow of Thomas Duke of Norfolk, under the will of her second husband, the Honourable Peregrine Widdrington.
Of his nephew, Mr.Townley, Corney house was purchased in the year 1792, by the present possessor, Sir Charles Rouse Boughton, Baronet, of Downton hall, in Shropshire.
The terrace, which is raised on brick arches, was an improvement of the Duchess of Norfolk.
The lodge at the south-west entrance was added by Mr.Townley: but while the grounds were receiving these, and other ornamental, as well as useful, additions, the house does not appear to have been regarded with an equal degree of attention.
It was left, therefore, and we do not hesitate to add, fortunately left, for its present possessor to make those improvements that domestic convenience required ; and to give it those embellishments which, in the eye of taste, the surrounding scenery appeared to demand.
The etymology of Corney, the name given to this house, does not yield to our small share of sagacity in titular derivations.
There were certain tenements standing on the banks of the river, with oardens and orchards, called Corney houses ; which, together with a piece of ground called Corney Close, were purchased by Mr.W ld- drmgton, who pulled down the houses, and, with the materials, built the octagon summer-house, and an handsome green-house.
At the same time he added the ground to the garden of his own mansion.
The long stretch of river from Mortlake to Chiswick, is called Corney Reach; we are therefore disposed to consider this name as derivable from some more important origin than the corruption ot the word Thornhagh, a title of one of its former possessors, to which antiquarian ingenuity has been inclined to attribute it.
Beyond Corney house, and at a small distance from it, is Chiswick church.
William Bordale, or Boydale, who died in the year 1435 , and was buried there, added a steeple to it, at his own expence.
Sir Thomas Chaloner, a statesman of some eminence, and in other respects a remarkable character, is interred here, with his wife and his son, Edward Chaloner, who was chaplain to James the First, and a celebrated preacher of political sermons.
Nor can we omit to mention that, in Lord Burlington’s vault, in this church, are the remains of Kent, a name well known in the annals of the British arts; and who, during his life, directed the taste of his country.
“ He was,” says Lord Orford, “ a painter, an architect, and the father of modern gardening.” He died April the twelfth, 1748, at Burlington house, where he had long enjoyed the patronage and friendship of its noble and munificent owner.
In the churchyard repose the ashes of William Hogarth, the great moral painter of his age and country; whose genius can receive no illustration from this page, and whose fame will long survive the marble that records it.
An elegant monument is erected over his grave.
The sculpture that decorates it consists of a mask, a laurel, a palette and pencils, with a book, inscribed “Analysis of Beauty.” To these emblems of his art and talents, is added a sepulchral eulogium, from the muse of his friend Mr.Garrick.

Farewell, great painter of mankind,
Who reach’d the noblest point of art;
Whose pictur’d morals charm the mind,
And, through the eye, correct the heart.

If genius fire thee, reader, stay;
If nature touch thee, drop a tear:
If neither move thee, turn away;
For Hogarth’s honour’d dust lies here.

A line of buildings is now seen to stretch along the Middlesex bank of the river, which, including the terraces of Chiswick, is a mile in length; and if it were not for the thick screen of forest trees that fringes the opposite shore, a stranger might be induced to imagine that the Thames was boldly entering the metropolis itself, instead of washing the banks of villages that approach it.
Hammersmith is a very large, populous, and scattered place, whose name is not found in any records before the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
It is an hamlet or chapelry of Fulham, with a church ; and it may, I believe, be added, that there is not a religious sect, tolerated in this country, which has not a place of worship and a congregation within its district.
It contains also many pleasant houses and gardens, especially near the banks of the river; among which is seen the very fine villa, built by the Right Honourable Bubb Doddington, afterwards Lord Melcombe, who fitted it up in all the magnificence of his time; adorned the marble gallery with the most expensive enrichments, disposed the gardens according to the taste of his day; and rendered this favourite residence one of the finest places in the neighbourhood of London.
The courtier is well known to have predominated in Lord Melcombe’s character; and he loved the display of exterior splendour: but he had also a taste for the fine arts, was well acquainted with classical learning, and left behind him several poetical effusions, which possess both wit and elegance.
The noble apartments of ibis house, not only witnessed, in his time, the sumptuous banquet, but were frequently enlivened with the feast of reason and the flow of soul.
Since the death of this nobleman, the superb mansion has shared the fate of many others, and passed through a various succession of possessors.
Much of the surrounding grounds have been sold off for the purpose of erecting inferior habitations ; and so many of the fine elms, which were its former pride, have become the prey of a false and prodigal taste, that the place no longer attracts the admiration of the passenger on the stream.
At length, however, it is become the property of the Margrave of Anspach, who, having resigned his German dominions to the King of Prussia, married the Dowager Lady Craven, and appears to have fixed his residence in the country of the lady he has espoused.
The Margrave has refitted and furnished this mansion, which has lately received the name of Brandenburgh house, in the most expensive profusion of modern taste, and makes it a frequent scene of gay and splendid hospitality.
Near this spot the Thames takes a bold sweep to the right, which is known by the name of Barn Elms reach, and finishes the horseshoe bend that begins at Mortlake, and gives the peninsular form to the parish of Barnes which has been already mentioned.
The turn of the stream conducts us to admire from the water the manor house of Barn Elms, and the grounds that spread before it, of which a former page contains a particular description.
Its fine lawn, enriched with stately trees, that not only appear to imbower the mansion, as it is seen from the stream, but which stretch along the banks of it, charmed our attention; and we could not consider them but with some degree of regretful interest when we reflected, that, in the remaining part of our voyage on the Thames, such shades as these would be seen no more.
The Middlesex side of this fine reach has nothing to recommend it in point of beauty.
The upper part is deformed with kilns, and the rest is flat and marshy.
There is indeed an elegant cottage, nearly opposite to our present station, which is a very pretty object.
It was built by the Margravine of Anspach, when she was Lady Craven, for water parties and summer luxury.
The view therefore from Barn Elms, has nothing so inviting as itself.
The stream is broad, and seen with charming effect through the fine trees that have already been mentioned as a very distinguished ornament of the place: while the palace of the Bishop of London, with Fulham church beyond it, and Putney bridge, at the distance of half a mile, compose the picture which offers itself to the slopes that fall gently towards the river.

PUTNEY BRIDGE

Putney soon succeeds, but presents no very picturesque appearance from this part of the water.
It is a village of large extent, and contains many elegant and handsome houses.
The waste land which belongs to it is very considerable, occupying the whole of Putney heath, with a great part of Wimbledon common; and to which may be added two hundred and thirty acres of Richmond park.
Of its cultivated ground, a considerable portion is employed in raising; vegetables for the London market.
The name of this place is of uncertain etymology.
In Doomsday book it is denominated Puttelei: in subsequent records it is written Puttenheth, or Pittenheth.
At length, however, it has obtained the name of Putney.
Leland, when he mentions this village in his Cygnea Cantio, distinguishes it by the appellation of Puttcnega amccnum.
Putney boasts the honour of producing two eminent statesmen; Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely, and Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex; both of whom were born in humble life, and attained, by their superior merit and talents, to the highest ecclesiastical and civil stations.
Bishop West was the son of a baker.
In 1477 he was elected a scholar of King’s college, in the university of Cambridge, where his conduct gave no prognostications of his future eminence.
Among other examples of his unlucky spirit and vicious vivacity, he set lire to the provost’s lodgings, for which strange act he was expelled the university.
“But in him,” says Fuller, in his Worthies, “was verified the old proverb, that naughty boys make good men.
For he reformed his manners, gave himself up to severe study, was readmitted to the university, and became not only a distinguished scholar, but an eminent and able statesman.” The vicarage of Kingston upon Thames was his first preferment.
He afterwards became the favourite of Henry the Eighth; who, at length, made him Bishop of Ely, and employed him in various embassies.
Oueen Catherine appointed him, m conjunction with Bishop Fisher, to be one of her advocates.
His style of living was so magnificent, that he is said to have kept in his house an hundred servants ; to fifty of whom he gave four marks in wages, and to the others forty shillings, allowing every one of them four yards of cloth for his winter livery, and three yards and an half for his summer livery.
This eminent prelate died April sixth, 1533, and was buried in the cathedral of his diocese.
Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, an eminent statesman and distinguished character in the reign of Henry the Eighth, was the son of a blacksmith.
Tradition continues to point out the place of his birth, which is, in some measure, confirmed by the survey of Wimbledon manor, taken in 1617 ; as it describes “ an ancient cottage, called the Smith’s shop, lying west of the highway leading from Putney to the upper gate; and on the south side of the highway from Richmond to Wandsworth, being the sign of the Anchor.” As his extraction was mean, his education was low; but his genius predominated over both.
He was, during a considerable period, in foreign countries, where he is supposed to have been engaged in the secret service of the king, and was some time a soldier in the army of the Duke of Bourbon, at the siege of Rome.
On his return to England, he was admitted into the family of Cardinal Wolsey, as his solicitor; to whom he proved a faithful servant and sincere friend.
After the cardinal’s fall, the king employed him in various services, for which he was rewarded by being successively appointed a privy counsellor, master of the jewel office, clerk of the hanaper, chancellor of the exchequer, principal secretary of state, master of the rolls, lord keeper of the privy seal, a baron of the realm, and vicegerent over all the spiritualities under the king, who was declared supreme head of the church.
All the power resulting from his high station, and the royal favour, he employed in promoting the Reformation; and, with this view, he became the chief instrument in dissolving the monasteries, depressing [sic!] the clergy, and expelling the monks.
The king at length advanced him to the dignity of Earl of Essex, constituted him lord high chamberlain of England, and loaded him with the confiscated estates of religious houses.
Nor can it be considered as an uninteresting circumstance in the life of this extraordinary man, that, among the numerous possessions he acquired by the royal favour, we can number the manor of the place where he was born.
But the plan he formed to secure his greatness proved his ruin; such is the weakness of human policy, and the short-sighted views of man.
He had employed all his power to procure a marriage between Henry and Anne of Cleves; and, as her friends were all Lutherans, he imagined that such a circumstance might tend to bring down the Popish party at court: at the same time he naturally expected great support from a queen of his own making.
But the capricious monarch taking a disgust to his bride, conceived an immediate and irreconcileable aversion to the principal promoter of the marriage.
He was accordingly accused of heresy, which was wholly improbable, and of other offences, which he could have justified by the king’s orders: but so enraged was Ins late master against him, that no one dared to appear and plead his cause.
One man, to his honour be it recorded, proved the friend of the fallen Cromwell, when every other friend had forsaken him: Archbishop Cranmer addressed a letter to the king in his favour, in which he solemnly declared it to be his opinion, that no prince ever had a more faithful servant.
He suffered on Tower hill, with great fortitude and composure, in the month of July, 1540.
His character has been differently treated by different parties: but it is well known that he preferred more men of abilities and integrity, both ecclesiastical and laymen, than any of his predecessors.
Nor shall we hesitate to declare our opinion, that he deserved a better master, and a better fate.
Putney may also boast of giving birth to another man, though not of equal rank, of superior genius, and more extensive celebrity: Edmund Gibbon, the first historian of his age and country.
Putney became also the scene of some very interesting transactions, during the civil wars of the last century.
When the royal army marched to Kingston, after the battle of Brentford, the Earl of Essex having determined to follow it into Surrey, a bridge of boats was constructed for that purpose between Fulham and Putney, and forts were ordered to be erected on both sides of the river.
In the year 1C47, when the kingdom was actually divided into three parties, equally jealous of each other, Cromwell, thinking it necessary to watch the motions of the king, who was then at Hampton Court, fixed the head quarters of the army at Putney, to which place they removed from Kingston.
During the residence of the general officers at Putney, they held their councils in the church, and sat round the communion table; but before they proceeded to debate, they usually heard a sermon from Hugh Peters, or some other favourite preacher.
The journals of the times are full of the transactions of their meetings in this place.
After various debates, they completed (heir propositions for the future government of the kingdom, which were sent to the king at Hampton Court.
In a few days after his majesty made his escape to the Isle of Wight, and in consequence of that event the army moved to another station.
The church exhibits the architecture of different periods, though it appears to have been in a great measure rebuilt in the reign of Henry the Seventh.
At the west end is an handsome tower.
It contains a small chapel, at the east end of the south aisle, built by Bishop West, the roof of which is adorned with rich Gothic tracery, interspersed with the bishop’s arms, and the initials of his name.
The parochial cemetery, adjoining the road from Wandsworth to Richmond, was given by the Reverend Roger Pettiward, D.D. in the year 1763.
Among other sepulchral memorials, it contains an elegant monument to the memory of Robert Wood, Esquire, who was under-secretary of state to the late Earl of Chatham, during the whole of his glorious administration.
He is also well known as a scientific traveller, and classical writer.
In the year 1751, he made the tour of Greece, Egypt, and Palestine, in company with Mr. Dawkins; and, at his return, published his splendid work on the Ruins of Palmyra and Balbec.
He was also author of an Essay on the Genius of Homer.
On his monument is the following inscription.
written, at the request of his widow, by the present Earl of Orford.
“ To the beloved memory of Robert Wood, a man of supreme benevolence, who was born at the castle of Riverstown, near Trim, in the county of Meath, and died the ninth day of September, 1771.
in the fifty-fifth year of his age; and of Thomas Wood, his son, who died the twenty-fifth day of August, 1772, in his ninth year.
Anne, their once happy wife and mother, now dedicates this melancholy and inadequate memorial of her affection and grief.
The beautiful editions of Balbec and Palmyra, illustrated by the classic pen of Robert Wood, supply a nobler and more lasting monument, and will survive those august remains.” Among other public charities in this parish, there is one particularly appropriated to its situation on the banks of the Thames.
It consists of a school, for the education and maintenance of twenty watermen’s sons.
It was founded by Mr.Thomas Martyn, in the latter end of the last century.
The master, who must be skilled in mathematics, is allowed a salary of eighty pounds per annum, with diet, lodgings, and a suit of clothes once a year, to the scholars, &c.
And if there should be any surplus arising from the estates set apart for the endowment of this school, it was directed by Mr.Martyn’s will, that it should be given in portions of eight pounds, between watermen of Putney, Fulham, and Wandsworth, who have lost their limbs in the service of their country, either by sea or land.
The ferry of Putney is mentioned in Doomsday-book, as yielding a toll of twenty shillings per annum to the lord of the manor.
Putney appears at all times to have been a considerable thoroughfare; as it was usual formerly for persons travelling from London, to many parts of the west of England, to proceed as far as this place by water.
In the household expences of Edward the First, are certain entries of money paid to the ferryman at Putney, for conveying the king and royal family to Fulham and Westminster.
At a court held for the manor of Wimbledon, in the forty-second year of Queen Elizabeth, it was ordered, that if any waterman should omit to pay an halfpenny for every stranger, and a farthing for every inhabitant of Putney, whom he should carry across the river, to the owner of the ferry, he should forfeit to tl le lord two shillings and sixpence.
The manorial records contain various other circumstances relative to this ferry; but an act of parliament having passed, in the twelfth year of George the First, for building a bridge over the Thames from Putney to Fulham, it was begun and finished in the year 1729, and the ferry purchased by the proprietors for the sum of eight thousand pounds.
This work was undertaken by thirty subscribers, who each advanced the sum of seven hundred and forty pounds.
The bridge is a wooden structure, eight hundred and five feet in length from gate to gate; and though its revenues far exceed those of the other bridges that cross the Thames, it is, in appearance, the worst of them all, and disgraces the river which it ought to adorn.
The lord of the manor enjoyed a fishery here at the time of the Conquest; and at a court held here in the thirteenth year of Henry the Sixth, the lord was found to be seised of all fish within the manor.
In 1663, it appears that the fishery was let for an annual rent of the three best salmon that should be caught in the months of March, April, and May.
This rent appears to have been afterwards changed into money, a mode of payment better suited to succeeding times.
Putney gave the title of Baron to Edward Cecil Viscount Wimbledon.
When we mention Putney heath, it would be an inexcusable omission were we not to give some account of the house built by David Hartley, Esquire, m the year 1776, lor the purpose of proving the efficacy of his invention of plates to preserve houses from lire.
The experiments fulfilled the promise made of them; and were several times repeated, with equal success, before their Majesties, the lord mayor and aldermen of London, several members of both houses of parliament, and other persons distinguished lor their scientific erudition; many of whom remained, with perfect confidence and fearless security, in the apartment directly over the room in which the fire was burning with great rapidity; and whose heat was sufficient to admit the forging of an horse-shoe, in all its process, from the bar of iron to its final formation.
The house where these curious experiments were made is still standing; and near it an obelisk lias been erected, at the expence of the city of London, whose inscriptions record,—that the Right Hon.
John Sawbridge, Esquire, lord mayor of London, laid the first stone, on the anniversary of the fire of London, to perpetuate the memory of an invention to secure buildings from fire: that the committee of city lands were empowered to complete the building, by an order of common council, dated the twenty-second day of November, 1776 ; that David Hartley was admitted on the same day to the freedom of the company of goldsmiths; and that the sum of two thousand five hundred pounds was voted to him by the house of commons, on the fourteenth day of May, 1774, for the purpose of proceeding in his experiments, and perfecting the invention.
Putney heath is well known and deservedly admired for its salubrious and delightful situation.
The brow of it commands very beautiful prospects over the county of Middlesex, from Harrow on the Hill, to Highgate and Hampstead, with a rich intermediate country ; while the Thames flows as it were beneath, and is caught in various points of view from, this elevated and inviting spot.
A range of villas is also seen to adorn it; whose beautiful pleasure- grounds, in various forms of garden elegance, spread over the gentle declivity of the hill behind them; while to their interior charms is added the extensive prospect, of which we have just given a general description.
Roehampton, which is an hamlet of this parish, is delightfully situated at the western extremity of the heath.
In the reign of Henry the Eighth, it contained no more than fourteen houses; but the surrounding beauties of the country, and its contiguity to Richmond park, have since combined not only to increase their number, but to produce some of the most distinguished residences in the vicinity of London.
The city of London, among other very useful improvements, in the yeai 1776, caused a road, or towing-path, to be made from Putney to Richmond, to assist and improve the navigation of the Thames.
It is a work of great expence and labour, and, in the course of it, there are upwards of fifty connecting bridges, with occasional embankments raised from the bed of the river.
The bridge, which has been already described, unites Putney with the village of Fulham; whose etymology is supposed to be derived from Fullenhanme, or Fullenholme, which signifies volu- crum domus, or the house of fowls; because, being a marshy place, many water-fowl used to harbour there.
Hanme also in the Saxon language signifying a river, Fulham may be supposed to express a river abounding with water-fowl.
Somner, in his Saxon Dictionary, derives Foulham, a loci uligine, from the moisture and ooziness of the place.
Fulham is the demesne of the Bishop of London, and is said to have been given to Irkenwald, Bishop of London, under Sigibert, king of the West Saxons, and Conrad, king of the Mercians.
The canons of Saint Paul’s held certain lands in Fulham in the time of William the First.
Rufus, tire first Bishop of London in the reign of Henry the First, granted to Henry, master of Saint Paul s school, a meadow at Fulham, with certain tithes; and Richard Nigel, his successor, gave to that schoof all the tithes arising m Ins demesnes of Fulham.
According to the Saxon Chronicle, an army of Danes passed the winter of the year 879 in this place, from whence they are said to have departed for Flanders.
The parish church of Fulham is both a rectory and a vicarage.
The former is a sinecure, in tlie patronage of the Bishop of London; and the latter is in the gift of the rector.
The tower of the church is of the same form with that of Putney ; and it is this circumstance that has given rise to a popular tradition, for we do not find it confirmed by any historical circumstance, that these churches were built by the piety of two sisters.
Fulham, though it contains several very handsome houses, cannot pretend to vie with the village on the opposite side of the water: but the most distinguishing circumstance of it, is the palace of the Bishop of London.
It is a large irregular building, which bears the marks of great antiquity, and possesses the venerable character of an episcopal residence.
The approach to it is through a double row of ancient elms, that surround a large meadow, called the Bishop s walks, and give an appropriate solemnity to the place.
Its situation is low, and its prospect confined; but the Thames flows beside it; and, from the back front of the house, which has been rebuilt, as well as from the lawn before it, which is elegantly disposed, the river, with its navigation, the bridge with its passage, and the churches at either end of it, form a very pleasing and busy picture.
The last prelate who occupied this palace, and who there closed his distinguished life, was Bishop Lowth ; a name which will rank among the brightest ornaments of his age and nation.
His fame for classical erudition, Oriental literature, and brilliant genius, has long been established; and will never be forgotten, while erudition, literature, and genius have any estimation among mankind.
His first bishoprick was that of Saint David’s: he was removed from thence to Oxford in the year 1767, and in 1777 he succeeded Doctor Terrick in the see of London.
On this high and important office he entered with the most splendid expectations, and he did not disappoint them.
He brought with him a literary character, of the first order, to adorn the diocese; and he served it with the most exemplary temper and discretion ; with amiable manners and unremitting zeal.
Not one of his many eminent and learned predecessors had claim to more desert, or was more spontaneously devoted to the claims of deserving men.
His literary character will be better known from its own efforts, than from any display that can now be made of it.
Few men attempted so much, and with more success.
A victory, and so obtained as his was, over such an adversary as Warburton, is no common distinction.
His triumphs in Hebrew learning were yet more gratifying.
But, perhaps, the more generally useful achievements of his labours are those which refer to his own language.
His own language may be considered, with great truth, to owe him, what the most grateful expressions of it can never pay, the first institutes of grammar; and, in his translation of Isaiah, the sublimest poetry in the world.
In various struggles of duty and of trial, whether disaster was to be suffered or subdued, he afforded a pre-eminent example.
His lamentations on his daughter’s tomb will be piously remembered, till pathetic elegance shall be admired no more.
When another daughter dropped, in sudden death, from his table; and his eldest son, with all that scholarship and honour could do for him, was consigned to a premature grave, he exemplified the resources which God has given to man, when reason is invigorated by faith, and the spirit of man is to sorrow not without hope.
But he had not only to suffer this allotment of mental visitations, which were heightened by an extreme sensibility of heart; his latter years also offered a very painful example of bodily infirmities, the fruits of that severe study, which had added so much to the learning and literary honour of his country.
These also, while his frame gradually sunk beneath them into an almost infantine state of debility, illustrated his character, because they displayed the ardour of his piety, the firmness of his resignation, and the triumphs of his faith.
He died the third day of November, 1787.
To this great and learned man, and distinguished prelate, Doctor Porteus has succeeded in the see of London: nor does the diocese experience any diminution of pious labour or episcopal care.
As we proceed on our voyage, we pass the Bishop of London’s palace, which has been so lately mentioned; while the general view, without offering any very striking objects, affords altogether a very pleasing picture.
The large sheet of water which the river forms in this place, the bridge that crosses it, and the churches of Putney and Fulham at either extremity, with the varying objects on the stream, or on the shores, when brought together, form no unpleasing combination of landscape circumstance, as will appear from the design of the opposite page.
Nor shall we forget to add, that, on a retrospective view of the river, Harrow on the Hill is seen to rise, very pleasingly in the distance, and enliven the horizon.
When we had passed the bridge, the large and handsome residence of the late Sir Joshua Vanneck, Baronet, is immediately seen, with its verdant terraces, to enrich the Surrey shore.
It was once the boast of the river; but so many elegant villas, with their fashionable decorations and ornamented gardens, have lately sprung up on its banks, that this respectable mansion appears to have lost its former consideration.
Nor must we forget to mention, that the white house near the bridge was inhabited by Richardson, while he composed his celebrated novel of Sir Charles Grandison.
On the opposite side of the stream several detached houses of pleasing forms, and with their charming pleasure-grounds, enliven the banks.
One of them is the residence of Doctor Cadogan, so well known for his professional opinions, and the elegant manner in which he gave them to the world.
The high part of Wandsworth, covered with buildings, fills the view before us, and attracts the eye from the very uninteresting and unpicturesque appearance of the lower part of it; where the various manufactories and distilleries deform the stream on whose banks they are erected.
Wandsworth is so named from its being watered by the little river Wandle, which falls into the Thames in this parish.
Worth, in the Saxon language, signifying either a village or a shore.
In Doomsday-book, the name ot this place is spelled Wandeforde and Wendleforde; and, in other ancient records, Wandlesworth, and Wendlesworth.
Stow mentions in his Annals, that the citizens of London, who had been deprived of their privileges by Richard the Second, sent a deputation of four hundred members of their corporation, with the recorder, to meet the king at Wandsworth in his road from Sheen, and implore Iris pardon; which he graciously granted: and, on their entreaty, rode through the city in his return to Westminster.
when he was received by the citizens with great magnificence and rejoicing.
It appears by the Conqueror’s survey, that the manor of Wandsworth had been held of Edward the Confessor, by six freemen; and that afterwards the king gave it to the church of Westminster.
In the year 1291, the abbot of Westminster’s estates at Wandsworth were valued at seventeen pounds.
After various alienations, it is at length become the property of the Right Honourable George Earl Spencer.
The church is a brick structure.
At the west end is a square tower, built in the year 1630.
The greater part of this edifice was rebuilt, at a considerable expence, in the year 1780.
In the chancel is the monument of Henry Smith, Esquire, alderman of London, who died in 1627, and whose extraordinary charities have rendered him the boast of the place, where he was born, and where his ashes repose.
Beneath a tablet is the following inscription.
“Here lyeth the body of Henry Smith, Esquire, sometime citizen and alderman of London, who departed this life the thirtieth day of January, anno Domini 1627, being then neere the age of seventy-nine yeares, whome while he lived, gave unto these several townes in Surrey following:—one thousand pounds apeece, to buy lands for perpetuity, for the reliefe and setting poore people on worke in the said townes; viz.
to the towne of Croydon, one thousand pounds; to the towne of Kingston, one thousand pounds; to the towne of Guilford, one thousand pounds; to the towne of Darking, one thousand pounds; and by his last will and testament, did farther give and devise, to buy lands for perpetuity and setting the poore a-worke; unto the towne of Riegate, one thousand pounds; to the towne of Richmond, one especialtye or debt of a thousand pounds; and unto this towne of Wandsworth, wherein he was borne, the sum of five hundred pounds, for the same use as before; and did further will and bequeath one thousand pounds, to buy lands for perpetuity, to redeem poore captives and prisoners from the Turkish tyranny: and not here stinting his charity and bounty, did also give and bequeath the most part of his estate, being to a great value, for the purchasing lands of inheritance for ever, for the relief of the poor, and setting them a-worke: a patterne worthy the imitation of those whom God lias blessed with the abundance of the goods of this life, to follow him therein.”
Ihe residue of his estate, both real and personal, was allotted by Mr.Smith’s executors to the poor of various parishes, according to their discretion.
In this distribution the county of Surrey has been principally regarded ; and twenty-four of its parishes, exclusive of those already named, receive, in suitable proportions, the benefit of this good man’s charitable disposition.
Of the cultivated ground in the parish of Wandsworth, so large a portion as two hundred and eighteen acres are occupied by gardeners, for the supply of the London market.
Aubrey mentions a manufactory of brass plates for frying-pans, kettles, and other culinary vessels, which was established here by Dutchmen, who kept it as a mystery.
The houses where this manufactory was carried on, bore the name of the Frying-pan houses.
1 owards the close of the last century, when great numbers of French Protestants fled from the persecution of Louis the Fourteenth, on his revocation of the edict of Nantes, many of them settled at Wandsworth, where they established a French church, which is now used as a place of public worship by the religious sect called Methodists.
Among these refugees were a considerable number of hatters, who introduced a manufactory of that article at this place, and carried it on with great success; but, though much diminished in its extent, it still exists.
Most of the descendants of the French refugees, who either remain here, or are dispersed in the neighbouring villages, have so Anglicised their names, that the memory of their extraction is almost obliterated.
The art of dying cloth has been practised at this place for more than a century.
There are now two eminent dyers established here, one of whom carries on the branch of scarlet dying to a very considerable extent.
There is also a manufactory here for bolting cloth, with Mr.Henckell’s iron mills, and Mr.Gardiner’s calico-printing manufactory, which employs upwards of two hundred and fifty persons.
Another of the same kind has lately been established by Messrs.
Lawrence and Harris.
To these may be added Mr.Rigby’s manufactory for printing kerseymeres; Mr.Dibble’s manufactory for whitening and pressing stuffs; Mr.Were’s linseed oil and white- lead mills; Mr.Shepley’s oil mills; Messrs. Galtey’s vinegar works; and Messrs. Bush and company’s distilleries.
These several manufactories add to the importance, and increase the population of this village.
The hamlet of Garrett, which belongs to the parish of Wandsworth, would not be comprehended in our general account of it, were it not for the local and particular circumstances that have long given it a certain kind of humorous distinction.
About two centuries ago it appears to har e consisted only of one habitation, called the Garrett.
It now contains, however, about fifty houses, and is well known as the scene of a mock election, which took place there for many years on the meeting of every new parliament: when certain distinguished characters in low life appeared as candidates, being furnished with fine clothes and equipages suited to the occasion by the publicans of the place and neighbourhood, who used to derive no inconsiderable advantage from the ridiculous frolic of the day.
This burlesque ceremony has been for some time on the decline, and was altogether omitted on the last general election ; nor is it improbable that the memory of it would soon pass away, were it not preserved by Foote’s diverting comedy of the Mayor of Garrett.
Several large and handsome houses appear on the hills that rise on each side of Wandsworth, which command a very extensive prospect of the river, the metropolis, and a great part of the county of Middlesex.
But the most distinguished spot within this district, is that which once possessed the elegant cassino of Mrs. George Pitt, afterwards Lady Rivers.
It was designed by Mr.Brown, and the grounds, which are contiguous to Wimbledon park, the seat of Earl Spencer, and command very pleasing views of it, were laid out by him.
This place was then admired for its rural elegance, as its mistress was distinguished by her superior beauty.
It was afterwards enlarged, and for some time occupied by Lord Stormont.
It is now the property of John Antony Rucker, Esquire, who has erected a very superb house on the spot, and enriched the place with every embellishment it is capable of receiving.
The view from it is peculiarly grand and extensive.
The Thames is seen, with little interruption, in its bold meander, from Fulham to Chelsea.
On the other side of the river, a rich inhabited country rises gradually from its banks, to the woods of Kensington gardens, and the high grounds beyond them.

CHELSEA & LONDON

CHELSEA & BATTERSEA

These connect with the hills of Hampstead and Highgate : the city of London, a stupendous object, next succeeds.
Shooter’s hill is then seen to rise in the horizon; and the eye, returning along the range of Kentish and Surrey hills, at length reaches the charming scenery of Wimbledon park, and reposes on the pleasure-grounds that surround the mansion; which close a prospect, not only of great extent, but replete with richness, variety, and magnificence.
The house is a large and regular building, with a central loggio supporting a pediment; and, from its elevated situation, becomes a very conspicuous object to the country it commands, as well as to the upper parts of the western extremity of the metropolis.
The small river Wandle, from whence the village we have just described derives its name, rises in the parish of Croydon, a considerable market-town in the county of Surrey, and at a small distance from the church.
Croydon had a market on Wednesdays, as early as the reign of Edward the First, procured by Archbishop Kilwardby, and a fair which began on the eve of Saint Botolph, and lasted nine days.
Another market on 1 hursdays, was granted to Archbishop Reynolds by Edward the Second, and a fair on the eve and morrow of Saint Matthew.
A third market, and the only one which is now continued, was granted by Edward the Third, to Archbishop Stratford, and a fair on the feast of Saint John the Baptist.
Of the fairs, the two last continue to be held at this day.
The manor of Croydon belonged to Archbishop Lanfranc at the time of the Conquest; and has ever since been annexed to the see of Canterbury.
Croydon park, of which the famous Sir William Walworth was the keeper, in the reign of Richard the Second, was given by Archbishop Cranmer to Henry the Eighth, for other lands; but it reverted to the Archbishop by another grant in the reign of Edward the Sixth.
The most distinguishing circumstance of this place, is the palace, or manerial house, which was, during several centuries, the occasional residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury, most of whom, since there have been any records of the see, appear to have dated some of their public acts from it.
Doctor Ducarel, in his History of Croydon, conjectures that the whole of this edifice was erected since the middle of the fourteenth century; as previous to that time it appears to have been built of w<3t>d.
Of the present structure, there is reason to believe that the guard-chamber was built by Archbishop Arundel, whose arms are placed there; and the hall by Archbishop Stafford; as the coats of arms with which it is decorated, and the style of architecture, combine to support that conjecture.
When the chapel was erected cannot be ascertained by any existing circumstance; though it appears to have been repaired and ornamented by the Archbishops Laud and Juxon.
Several large sums of money have been expended on this palace by succeeding prelates; particularly by Archbishop Wake, who built the great gallery, and Archbishop Herring, by whom the whole was completely fitted up and repaired.
In the year 1780, the palace not having been inhabited for many years, and being very much out of repair, an act of parliament was obtained for disposing of it by sale, and vesting the produce in the funds, towards building a new palace upon Park hill, near the town.
It was accordingly sold, under this act, in the same year, to Sir Abraham Pitches, Knight, for two thousand five hundred and twenty pounds.
It is now let to tenants, who carry on an extensive calico printing manufactory; and the garden of the late episcopal palace, such are the changes in this transitory world, is now employed as a ground for bleaching linen.
from this place the little stream, whose course we attend, soon reaches the village of Beddington, which is distinguished by the seat of the ancient family of the Carews, who have possessed the manerial estate from the time of Edward the Third, excepting the short period of the attainder of Sir Nicholas Carew, who was beheaded in the reign of Henry the Eighth.
The manor house, which is situated near the church, is a brick edifice, and occupies three sides of a square; the centre consists of a large and lofty hall, with a beautiful Gothic roof.
The north wing is a mere shell, the inside having been destroyed by fire about the year 1709, soon after the house was built in its present form.
When Sir Francis Carew had obtained the reversal of his father’s attainder, and purchased the family estate, which, on its forfeiture, had been granted away by the crown, he rebuilt the mansion house in a very magnificent manner : at the same time he laid out the gardens, and planted them with choice fruit trees, procured at a great expence from foreign countries.
The first orange trees seen in England are said to have been planted by him.
Aubrey says they were brought from Italy by Sir Francis Carew; but, according to a tradition preserved in the family, they were raised by him, from the seeds of the first oranges which were imported into England by Sir Walter Raleigh, who had married his niece, the daughter of Sir Robert Throgmorton.
The trees were planted in the open ground, and were preserved in the winter by a moveable shed.
They flourished till the hard frost in 1739-10, whose inclement power destroyed them.
In the month of August, 1590, Oueen Elizabeth paid a visit to Sir Francis Carew at Beddington, and also in the following year.
The queen’s oak.
and her favourite walk, are still pointed out to those who visit the place.
The hamlet of Wallington in this parish is more populous than the village to which U belongs.
It is situated on the banks .of the Wandle, and contains a large manufactory for printing calico.
At Woodcote, m the parish of Beddington, which is now a single farm house, have been found many remains of antiquity, which prove it to have been a Roman station.
Camden and other learned antiquaries are of opinion that it was the city of Noviomagus, mentioned by Ptolemy; while others contend for its situation in the county of Kent.
The river Wandle appears a considerable stream in the park belonging to Beddington house, and, in a very short course, reaches the pleasant village of Carshalton, here it is increased by several springs, and forms a large sheet of pellucid water in the centre of the place, which receives no small ornament from it.
On its banks in this parish are mills for the manufactory of paper, for preparing leather and parchment, and for grinding logwood.
There are also oil and snuff mills, and extensive bleacheries.
Doctor Radcliffe, the celebrated physician, so distinguished for his medical skill, and so remarkable for the rudeness of his manners, was an inhabitant of this village, where he died the third of August, 1714 .
The house in which he lived, and had himself built, was afterwards occupied by another eminent character, the Lord Chancellor Hardwicke.
Mitcham is the next place which the busy stream, whose current we follow, refreshes with its waters.
It is a considerable village and remarkable for the quantity of land employed in raising medical herbs.
Upwards of two hundred and fifty acres are here occupied by the physic gardeners, who cultivate lavender, wormwood, chamomile, aniseed, rhubarb, liquorice, and other plants, for the apothecaries of London, in great abundance.
Sir Walter Raleigh had an house and estate here, in right of his wife, who was a daughter of Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, and had been maid of honour to Oueen Elizabeth.
It appears that the estate was sold for two thousand five hundred pounds, to forward the equipment of his expedition to Guiana.
Sir Julius Caesar, master of the rolls in the reign of Oueen Elizabeth, had also a mansion in this village, where, in the year 1598 .
he was honoured with a visit from his sovereign, of which the following account is given in his own words.
“ Tuesday, September the twelfth, the queen visited my house at Mitcham, and supped and lodged there, and dined there the next day.
I presented her with a gown of cloth of silver, richly embroidered ; a black net-work mantle with pure gold; a taffeta hat, white, with silver flowers, and a jewel of gold set therein, with rubies and diamonds.
Her majesty removed from my house after dinner, the thirteenth of September, to Nonsuch, with exceeding good contentment, which entertainment of her majesty, with the former disappointment (supposed to mean some costly preparations for a royal visit which had not taken place), amounted to seven hundred pounds sterling, besides mine own provisions, and what was sent unto me by my friends.” But though it becomes us to mention these circumstances, as matters of historical curiosity, we feel a more sincere pleasure in recording, that the inhabitants of this parish support a Sunday school by voluntary contributions, upon a very superior plan; and that in the year 1788, they erected a school-house, for the more effectual advancement of that useful, benevolent, and patriotic institution.
The river Wandle, as it flows through Mitcham, turns several snuff mills, and furnishes the principal convenience for carrying on two considerable manufactories for printing calicoes.
But while it aids the efforts of art and commerce, it heightens the charm of rural elegance; and, after winding through the lawns of Mitcham grove, the very handsome villa of Henry Hoare, Esquire, it takes a western course to the adjoining village of Merton.
This place is famous for the abbey, which was once its pride and its wealth.
The manor of Merton, previous to the Conquest, was the property of Earl Harold, and was afterwards held by the king in demesne.
Henry the First gave it to Gilbert Norman, sheriff of Surrey, who in the year 1115, built a convent of wood there, and endowed it with certain small estates.
It was soon afterwards removed to its present situation, as better suited to the objects of religious retirement.
In the year 1121, having obtained, though with some difficulty, the king’s permission, the pious Gilbert made a settlement of the manor of Merton upon his infant establishment, which received the royal confirmation.
In the year 1130, Merton abbey was built with stone; the founder himself laid the first stone with great solemnity; the prior laid the second, and the brethren of the community, being thirty-six in number, performed the same ceremony, in the order of their respective rank and character.
The founder died on the first day of August in the same year, and was buried within the rising abbey.
The benefactions to this monastery were afterwards so large as well as numerous, that, at the dissolution of religious houses, its revenues were estimated at nine hundred and fifty-seven pounds nineteen shillings and four pence per annum.
The prior possessed a seat in parliament as a mitred abbot.
In this abbey Henry the Third, in the year 1236, and the day alter his coronation, held a parliament, in which were enacted the provisions of Merton, the most ancient body of English laws subsequent to Magna Charta.
It was in this assembly, on a motion of the bishops for establishing a constitution of the canon law, by which marriage should legitimate issue previously born, that the lay lords made that celebrated and ever memorable answer,—
"Nolumus leges Anglia mutari." [We are unwilling to change the laws of England]
All that remains of this abbey is the east window of a chapel, which seems to be in the style of architecture that prevailed in the fifteenth century.
Tanner is of opinion, that the monastic buildings were demolished by order of parliament in the civil war of the last century, when it appears to have been occasionally used as a garrison.
The walls, however, still remain, and are almost entire.
They are formed of flints, and inclose an area of sixty-five acres, which is watered by the river Wandle, and contains a large copper mill, as well as two very extensive manufactories for printing calicoes, in which that decorative art has been brought to its present degree of perfection.
More than a thousand persons are now employed in this inclosure; a circumstance which naturally leads us to compare the useful application of the spot in our day, with the monastic indolence that so unprofitably reigned there in former times.
Gilbert Norman, the founder of the abbey, built a church at Merton in the twelfth century, according to a very ancient manuscript in the herald’s college, which appears, from the language of it, to have been written by one of his contemporaries: and the most judicious antiquaries are of opinion, from the architecture of the present church, that it is the original structure; and has undergone very few, if any, alterations.
The Wandle now hastens to finish its course: and though the whole length of its current maybe comprised in a few miles; though its stream does not any where reflect the finer scenery of art or nature, it may boast of a more extensive commerce on its banks than many rivers of larger flow and greater name.
It passes from the inhabited part of Merton, through a succession of meadows, and soon reaches Wandsworth, which has been already described; when, after assisting by its waters the operations of a succession of various manufactories, it yields its small, but useful, stream to the Thames.
From this place the Thames makes a grand curve to the left, which is well known by the name of Battersea reach.
Meadows and kitchen-gardens occupy the Middlesex side of the stream, which is one uninterrupted flat.
At the distance of about half a mile is seen Peterborough house, now neglected and forlorn, but once the villa of the Earl of Peterborough, a very distinguished character at the close of the last, and in the early part of the present century.
He was a great general, and an able politician; who, to the greatest personal courage and resolution, added all the other qualities of a consummate commander; and joined to the most lively and penetrating genius, the elegance of taste and the accomplishments of literature.
He was the friend of Pope ; and by his talents and erudition heightened the lustre of that constellation of genius which illuminated the period wherein he lived.
On the Surrey shore, a range of common fields unite Wandsworth to Battersea, and the higher parts of these respective villages, which are covered with houses, bound the prospect on this side of the river.
Battersea, in the Conqueror’s survey, is called Patricesy; and has since been written Battrichsey, Battersey, and Battersea.
Of its original signification there can be little doubt; Patricesey, in the Saxon tongue, signifying Peter’s water, or river; and the same record, in which it is written Patricesy, mentions that it was given to Saint Peter.
The manor of Battersea, which before the Conquest belonged to Earl Harold, was given by the Conqueror to the abbey of Saint Peter’s at Westminster, in exchange for Windsor.
After the dissolution of the monasteries, the manor was reserved in the hands of the crown; and, after various temporary grants or leases of it, it was, in the year 1627 , finally granted in reversion to Oliver St.
John Viscount Grandison.
From him it descended in regular succession to the late Henry Viscount Bolingbroke, who, by an act of parliament passed before his father’s death, was enabled to inherit his estate, notwithstanding his attainder.
The estate continued in the St.
John family till the year 1763 , when it was bought in trust for John Viscount Spencer, and is the property of the present Earl Spencer.
It is a custom of this manor, that the lands in it descend to the youngest son; but, in default of sons, they do not go to the youngest daughter, but are divided in equal shares among the female children.
Three hundred acres of land in this parish are occupied by gardeners who supply the London market.
They raise great quantities of the best vegetables, and are peculiarly famous for the cultivation of asparagus.
Fuller, who wrote in the year 1660 , gives the following curious account of the gardens in Surrey.
“ Gardening was brought into England for profit, about seventy years ago; before which we fetched most of our cherries from Holland, apples from France, and had hardly a mess of rath ripe peas but from Holland, which were dainties for ladies, they came so far, and cost so dear:
since gardening hath crept out of Holland to Sandwich in Kent, and thence to Surrey; where, though they have given six pounds an acre and upwards, they have made their rent, lived comfortably, and set many people on work.
Oh the incredible profit by digging of ground!
for though it be confessed, that the plough beats the spade out of distance for speed (almost as much as the press beats the pen), yet, what the spade wanteth in the quantity of the ground it manureth, it recompenseth with the plenty of the food it yieldeth; that which is set, multiplying an hundred fold more than that which is sown.
It is incredible how many poor people in London live thereon, so that, in some seasons, the gardens feed more people than the field.” The church of Battersea is situated on the banks of the river.
It is a modern structure, and was rebuilt by an act of parliament, passed in the fourteenth year of George the Third, and was opened for divine service on the seventeenth of November, 17/7.
It is a brick building, and has a tower, with an ill-shapen conical spire at the west end.
The eastern window consists of painted glass, which was carefully preserved on the rebuilding of the church.
It contains, among other monuments, those of the St.
Johns; Battersea having long been the residence and property of that family: nor can we pass over, without particular distinction, the marble that is erected to mark the sepulchre of Henry St.John Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, one of the most celebrated persons of his age and country.
The splendid talents and superior eloquence of this great man, the important concerns in which he was engaged, the various scenes through which he passed, his fall from power, his long disgrace, and the philosophic dignity of his latter years, not only rendered him a most interesting character to the times in which he lived, but to those which have succeeded.
Lord Bolingbroke, in the words of Lord Chesterfield, had at a very early period of his life made himself master of books and men; but in the first part of his career, being immersed at once m business and pleasure, he ran through a variety of scenes in a surprising and eccentric manner.
When his passions subsided by years and disappointments, when he improved his rational faculties by more grave studies and reflection, he shone out in his retirement with a lustre peculiar to himself, though not seen by vulgar eyes.
The gay statesman was changed into a philosopher equal to any of the ages of antiquity.
The wisdom of Socrates, the dignity and ease of Pliny, and the wit of Llorace, appeared in all his writings and conversation.
Swift says, in one of his letters to Pope,—if ever Lord Bolingbroke trifles, it must be when he turns divine; but that whenever he writes of any thing in this world, he is not only above trifling, but even more than mortal.
In short, whatever imperfections may be discovered in him, with regard to certain principles and opinions, he must be considered as a man of great talents and universal knowledge, as among the first men of the age in which he lived, and one of the finest writers which any age has produced.
Lord Bolingbroke frequently expressed a wish that he might breathe his last in the house of his ancestors at Battersea; and that wish was accomplished.
He died there on the twelfth day of December, 1751.
His second wife was widow of the Marquis Villette, and niece of the celebrated Madame de Maintenon.
She died a short time before her husband, and lies in the same vault with him in Battersea church.
On the north wall, a monument, by Roubiliac, is erected to their memory, and adorned with medallions, representing the profiles of the two noble persons whose ashes rest below.
The following inscription, which cannot be omitted, appears on a tablet of black marble.

Here lies
Henry St.John,
in the reign of Queen Anne
Secretary of War — Secretary of State,
and Viscount Bolingbroke
in the days of king George the First and king George the Second,
something more and better.
His attachment to Queen Anne
exposed him to a long and severe persecution:
he bore it with firmness of mind;
the enemy of no national party,
the friend of no faction:
distinguished (under the cloud of a proscription,
which had been entirely taken off)
by zeal to maintain the liberty,
and to restore the ancient prosperity,
of Great Britain.
He died the 12th of December,
1751, aged 73.

In the same vault
are interred the remains of
Mary Clara des Champs de Marcelly,
Marchioness Villette and Viscountess
Bolingbroke, of a noble family,
bred in the court of Louis XIV.
She reflected a lustre n the former,
by the superior accomplishments of her mind;
she was an ornament to the latter,
by the amiable dignity and grace of her behaviour.
She lived,
the honour of her own sex,
the delight and admiration of ours :
She died
an object of imitation to both ;
with all the firmness that reason,
with all the resignation that religion,
can inspire;
aged 74, the 18th of March,
1750.

In the year 1763, the estate of the St.John family in this parish was alienated, as has been already mentioned; and, about fifteen years ago, the greater part of Bolingbroke house was pulled down : in that which still remains is a room wainscoted with cedar, and, according to the tradition of the spot, Lord Bolingbroke’s favourite apartment.
About four years ago was erected, on the site of Bolingbroke house, an horizontal air-mill, of a new and curious construction, and of very large dimensions.
The shape of the case which contains the moveable machine, is that of a truncated cone, of fifty- two feet diameter at the bottom, and forty-five feet at the top; the height of the main shaft is one hundred and twenty feet; that is, forty feet from the lloor to the bottom of the case, and eighty feet from thence to the top.
The moveable machine is of the same shape, and nearly of the same dimensions as the case, having just space to turn round within it: the extremities of the machine are called floats, as in the wheel of a water-mill: the pieces of wood which connect them with the main shaft are called the arms.
There are ninety-six floats; and the same number of shutters in the case, which when open admit, even when there is but little wind, a sufficient current of air to turn the machine; and may be readily shut by a particular contrivance, when the wind is so violent as to endanger the building.
This mill on its first erection was used for preparing oil, but is now employed in grinding corn.
It is not only very conspicuous from the river, on whose bank it stands, but also from the surrounding country.
Battersea presents no very pleasing object from the water.
The church has nothing in its form or architecture to attract attention to the place where it stands: nor does the horizontal windmill, though a large and lofty building, produce a picturesque effect in the general view from this part of the stream.
We are glad, therefore, to turn our eyes to the more gratifying circumstances of the opposite shore ; where the villas of Lady Mary Coke and Lord Dartrey enliven and enrich the scene.
They are situate in the parish of Chelsea, a large and populous village, which is about to claim our particular attention.
The retrospective view from this part of the Thames is extremely beautiful, where a fine reach of the river conducts the eye to the height of Wandsworth hill, enriched by the villa and embellished grounds of Mr.Rucker, backed by the woods of Wimbledon park.
Chelsea, or, as it appears to be written in ancient records Chelche-hith and Chelsyth, which Somner derives from Ceale, that in the Saxon tongue signifies chalk, and hythe an harbour.
Camden, speaking of this place, calls it Chelsey, as it were Shelfsey, from the shelves of sand near it.
There is another derivation of its present name, from Ceald and hyth, or cold harbour, “ on account," says Norden, l; of its bleak situation;” as it stands open to the river, which is here expanded into great breadth.
The manor belongs to the crown, as it appears to have done from the time of Queen Elizabeth.
There are many circumstances connected with this village which demand our particular attention; but the chief of them is the hospital, established for the comfort and relief of veteran and wounded soldiers; an institution of the first order, not only as to its object, which is so honourable as well as useful to our country, but from the manner in which that object is fulfilled.
Chelsea hospital is a magnificent edifice, erected as an asylum for invalids in the land service.
The original building, on this spot, was a college, founded by Doctor Sutkliff, dean of Exeter, in the reign of James the First, for the study of polemical divinity, and was endowed for the purpose of maintaining a provost and fellows, for the instruction of youth in a branch of learning which was so much encouraged at that period.
The king, who laid the first stone of this seminary, gave many of the materials, and promoted the work by considerable donations from the royal purse.
The clergy also manifested their liberality on the occasion: but the sum settled upon the foundation by Doctor Sutkliff proving inadequate to the end proposed, and private contributions, from which much was hoped, having disappointed the expectations formed of them, the building was never completed, and the part which had been erected soon became an heap of ruins.
At length the ground, on which the old college was erected, being escheated to the crown, Charles the Second began to build the present hospital, which was carried on by James the Second, and completed by William and Mary.
This noble structure is of brick, with stone ornaments, consists of a vast range of buildings, and was designed by Sir Christopher Wren.
Ihe front towards the north, opens into a piece of ground laid out in walks for the convenience and recreation of the pensioners; and to the south, is a spacious and handsome garden, which extends to the Thames.
This side of the building enjoys a view of the river, with an extensive view into the county of Surrey beyond it.
The centre of this edifice is enriched by a grand pediment, supported by four columns of the Tuscan order, above which is a laige turret.
Beneath is a spacious vestibule that forms a passage through the building: on one side of it is the chapel; the furniture and plate of which was given by James the First; and on the other side is the hall, where the pensioners dine.
In the former, the altar- piece contains a good picture of the resurrection, by Sebastian Ricci, and in the latter, is the portrait of Charles the Second on horseback, with several paintings designed by \ errio, and said to have been finished by Cook.
The wings, which extend east and west, join the chapel and hall to the north, and are open towards the Thames on the south.
They are three hundred and sixty feet in length, and about eighty in breadth.
They are elevated to three stories; while the rooms are so disposed as to produce uncommon convenience, and the air so judiciously admitted, by means of the open spaces, that their arrangement does not appear to admit of any additional improvement.
Before the south front of this square is an handsome colonnade, which extends the whole length of it; whose entablature is enriched with the following appropriate inscription.
In subsidium et levamen emeritorum semo belloque fractorum, condidit Carolus Secundus.
Auxit Jacobus Secundus: perfecere Gulielmus et Maria.
Rex et Regina , MDCXC.
And in the centre of the quadrangle is the statue of Charles the Second, in the ancient Roman dress, and elevated on a pedestal.
There are several other adjoining buildings, which form two large squares, and consist of apartments for the officers and servants of the house, for old maimed officers of horse and foot; and an infirmary for the sick.
An air of neatness and elegance prevails through all the subordinate parts of this hospital, and a simple grandeur crowns the whole of this vast structure, w hich is, altogether, a very fine example of his great taste, professional skill, and happy power of application to appropriate utility, who designed it.
The expence of erecting this edifice is computed to amount to one hundred and fifty thousand pounds; and the extent of ground which it occupies, including its courts, walks, and gardens, is upwards of forty acres.
In the wings are sixteen wards, in which are accommodations for more than four hundred pensioners, who are provided with every convenience that can contribute to their ease and comfort.
1 hese pensioners consist of superannuated veterans, who have been at least twenty years in the army, or those soldiers who are disabled in the service; and they are provided with clothes, diet, washing, and lodging, and a small weekly allowance in money, according to their respective ranks and situations.
The hospital being considered as a garrison, the duties of it are performed by its invalid inhabitants.
The great expence which is necessary to support this hospital, and to pay the out-pensioners, is derived from a poundage deducted from the pay of the army, with one day’s pay per annum from each officer and private soldier; and any deficiency in this fund is supplied by parliament.
This hospital, a noble monument of national gratitude and humanity, is governed by commissioners, who consist of the president of the council, the first commissioner of the treasury, the principal secretary of state, the paymaster general of the forces, the secretary at war, the comptrollers of the army, with the governor and lieutenant-governor of the hospital.
Another distinguishing circumstance of the village of Chelsea is the physic or botanical garden, which contains four acres, and is enriched with a great variety of plants, both domestic and exotic.
The entire freehold of this ground was given by that great naturalist, eminent physician, and excellent man, Sir Hans Sloane, to the apothecaries’ company of London, on condition of their paying a quit rent of five pounds per annum; and delivering annually to the Royal Society fifty specimens of new plants of the growth of that garden, till the number should amount to two thousand.
Its contiguity to the metropolis, and the great attention paid to its preservation and improvement, renders it an excellent and useful school for the study of botany.
In the year 1773, the company of apothecaries erected a statue of the donor in the centre of the garden, which was produced by the chisel of Rysbrack.
Sir Hans Sloane was created a Baronet by George the First, and succeeded Sir Isaac Newton as President of the Royal Society: having fulfilled the high opinion which the public entertained of him, he retired, at the age of fourscore, to Chelsea, to enjoy in tranquillity the remains of a most honourable and useful life.
The following year he removed his library, consisting of more than fifty thousand volumes, from his house in London to Chelsea, together with his celebrated collection of natural curiosities, which afterwards formed the basis of the British Museum.
But though he retired from the more active scenes of hie, he did not altogether seclude himself from society, or suffer his great medical skill to be unemployed ; as he continued to receive visiters of distinction of all countries, and, which is still more to his honour, never refused admittance or advice to the poor.
After an illness of three days, this great and good man died on the eleventh day of January, 1752, and was, according to the directions of his last will and testament, interred in the same vault with his lady, in Chelsea churchyard, where a monument is erected to his memory.
In this parish, and fronting the Thames, is a large house, with a spacious garden, belonging to the see of Winchester; and at the hamlet of Little Chelsea is an house, formerly occupied by Lord Shaftesbury, and since by Mr.Serjeant Wynne, resided the celebrated John Locke: a small summer-house still remains in the garden, which tradition mentions as his favourite apartment, and where the enthusiasm for eminent talents may still indulge its gratifying emotions.
The ancient church of Chelsea has received so many additions as to render it by no means an object of particular attention.
It is a brick structure, and the tower, with other parts of it, appear to have been erected in the beginning of the present century.
It contains, among many curious monuments, a black marble tablet, erected by Sir Thomas More to the memory of his two wives, with a Latin inscription of his own composition.
On the south side of the chancel was interred the body of that great and extraordinary man: it was first buried in the chapel of the Tower, immediately after his execution, but being afterwards yielded to the pious entreaties of his daughter, was deposited in the church of Chelsea.
The same admirable woman, impelled by the same ardour of filial piety, found means to procure his head also, which had remained fourteen days fixed on a pole on London bridge.
This sacred relick of the tenderest of fathers and best of men, she carefully preserved in a leaden box, till a convenient opportunity offeied of removing it to Canterbury; when she placed it in a vault belonging to the Roper family, into which she had married, under a chapel adjoining to Saint Dunstan’s church in that city.
According to Wood, “the head had remained on the bridge for some months; and that the daughter was taken up for getting it into her possession; and, being examined before the council, declared that she bought it, to prevent its becoming food for fishes in the Thames: so, after a short imprisonment, she was discharged.” To say that Sir Thomas More was the brightest character of the age in which he lived, an age which exhibited the ferocity of uncivilized man without his simplicity, and the degeneracy of modern times without their refinement, were piaise beneath his merit: to challenge the long and glittering chain of English biography to produce his equal at any period, might be deemed presumptuous : but if the wise and honest statesman, the acute and uncorrupt magistrate, the loyal but independent sub|ect, constitute an excellent public man; — if the affectionate parent, tire tender husband, the kind master, the faithful friend, the moral though witty companion, the upright neighbour, the pious Christian, and the patient martyr, form a perfect private character, Sir Thomas More was a consummate example of them all.
He was born in Milk-street, London, about the year 1480, the only son of Sir John More, a judge of the King’s Bench, by the daughter of a Mr.Handcombe, of Holywell, in the county of Bedford.
He acquired the learned languages at the hospital of Saint Anthony, in the parish of Saint Bennet Fink, which was at that time a schoof of high reputation; from whence he was removed to Saint Mary hall, or, as some say, to Christ church college, in the university of Oxford.
Having embraced his father’s profession, and soon becoming eminent in it.
he was elected to serve his country in parliament; and distinguished himself in the house of commons by a freedom of conduct, which, at that time, could only have arisen from the purest motives.
In this spirit, he opposed a tax which was requned for the marriage of the Princess Margaret, sister to the king, who revenged himself by committing the young senator’s father to the Tower.
Henry, however, who, with all his faults, easily discovered and generally encouraged true merit, soon after directed Wolsey to bring More to the court: when, having made him a master of requests, and a knight, he received him into the privy council, and sent him ambassador to France, and afterwards to Flanders.
In the year 1523, he was chosen speaker of the house of commons; in 1528, was appointed chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster; and in 1530, in spite of his objection to Henry’s darling project of divorcing Oueen Catharine, lord chancellor of England.
Such, indeed, was his independent spirit, that not long before this period he stedfastly refused a present of four thousand pounds from the body of the clergy, for his vigilant attention to the interests of that religion, which, in all circumstances and situations, he never failed to cherish, and to whose interests he at last offered up the sacrifice of his life.
He presided but three years in the court of chancery.
Henry condescended once more to ask his consent to the divorce; and the chancellor had again the boldness to refuse.
A storm immediately gathered against him; and he prudently requested leave to resign; which the king granted, and accepted the seals with much seeming grace and favour.
On this occasion he retired to his house at Chelsea, from whence it does not appear that he ever returned to court.
Unfortunately, he was called to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn, which summons he stedfastly refused to obey; and it was, perhaps, from this act of disobedience, rather than from his refusal of the oath of supremacy, or his opposition to the act for bastardizing the Lady Mary, that we may date his ruin.
He was committed to the Tower, accused of misprision of treason, and, at last, from the treachery of Rich, who afterwards most unworthily filled his office, was indicted for high treason, and beheaded on the sixth of June, 1535.
He suffered with that noble calmness and composure which gave to his death all the dignity of his life.
The house which Sir Thomas More built at Chelsea for his particular residence, or at least a considerable part of it, is now standing, and is reduced to a manufactory of paper: its situation is in Cheyne Walk, adjoining to the house of the Bishop of Winchester; but, from the alterations which have been necessarily made in it, the building has lost much of its ancient and venerable appearance.
The entrance to two regular arched subterraneous passages appears in the courtyard before the house: one is reported to lead to Kensington, and the other to Hammersmith ; but for what secret purposes, the tradition of the spot was not qualified to inform us.
Of the chapel, gallery, and other apartments, which are related by his biographers to have been erected by him in the garden of this house, no traces are now to be discerned.
In this place, near fifty years ago, was established a famous manufactory for china ware, which never has been equalled lor the perfection of its designs, and the beauty of its colours: but it was too expensive for that period, and did not reward the ingenuity and skill of its proprietors.
The unparalleled fabric of tapestry which has since been so well known under the foreign title of the Gobelins manufactory, and received such peculiar encouragement from royal protection m France, was first established in this village, where it struggled in vain for maintenance ; and was obliged, at length, to seek a country where, while order and government remained, it continued to improve and flourish.
In this parish, a very large portion of land is employed in nursery gardens, for raising shrubs and trees for the garden and plantation; while many of them also abound in hot-houses of every construction, for the growth of exotic plants, and the production of early fruits and flowers.
The splendid amphitheatre of Ranelagh, which has so long been a favourite place of fashionable resort in the spring season, is one of the many circumstances belonging to Chelsea, which cannot be omitted.
This place was formerly a seat of the Earls of Ranelagh; at which time the gardens were very large and extensive: but, on the decease of the last nobleman of that title, the estate was sold, and a considerable portion of the gardens was converted to other purposes : but tire mansion remained, as it still continues, without any alteration, and retains the name of its former noble possessors.
It was however determined, by the purchasers of this property, to unite in forming the garden immediately attached to the house into a place of public amusement.
Accordingly the Rotunda was erected, after a design of Mr.William Jones, then architect to the East India Company; and is a very striking monument of his taste, genius, and professional knowledge.
As the building such a large and extraordinary edifice with stone would have been attended with an enormous, and, as it appears, an useless expence, it was formed of wood, and entirely completed in the year 1740 for the reception and entertainment of the public.
Its external diameter is one hundred and eighty-five feet, and its internal diameter is one hundred and fifty.
The roof is flat, and contrived with great ingenuity and skill; the decorations are simple and elegant, and the whole of this magnificent structure is not only most admirably adapted to the particular uses for which it was erected, but exhibits a circular room, both as to its proportions and effect, that has no rival in this country, and is not exceeded, as we believe, by a similar building in any other.
At no great distance from Ranelagh are the Chelsea water-works; which not only supply the large village where they have been erected with water from the Thames, but, by means of a steam engine of great powers, throws up large quantities of that essential article of life into reservoirs both in the Green and Hyde parks, for the convenience and comfort of the adjacent parts of the metropolis.
These works are under the direction of a society, incorporated by act of parliament in the year 1722, by the name of the Governor and Company of the Chelsea Water-works.
They have a common seal, and power to purchase lands,etc. in mortmain, to the value of one thousand pounds per annum, with a right to dispose of the same.
The works are divided into two thousand shares; and the affairs of the company are managed by a governor, deputy governor, and thirteen directors.
A volume might be also filled with the lives and characters of distinguished persons who were natives of, or have resided in, this village: but, among the former, we cannot pass by without observation that excellent scholar and able mathematician, Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery, who was born at Chelsea in August, 1676.
The disputes concerning the Epistles of Phalaris, in which this nobleman, who had translated them, and Doctor Atterbury, afterwards Bishop of Rochester, were opposed to that renowned critic Doctor Bentley, are well known in the polemical history of English literature.
But the chief glory of this nobleman is the transfer of his title to the planetarium; which, having received considerable improvements from his genius, has since been, and will for ever be, denominated an Orrery.
The bridge which crosses the river at this place, and is more generally known by the name of Battersea bridge, is built of wood ; and we cannot but express our surprise and regret, that, where the river possesses such an ample breadth, and the situation is so contiguous to the metropolis, the Thames cannot boast a more elegant structure.
But it makes, however, some amends for its mean and clumsy form, by the very noble and contrasted prospect which it offers to those who pass over it.
To the west is seen the beautiful bend of water called Battersea reach, with the village from whence it derives its name, on the left.
Chelsea meadows and their villas appear to the right.
Wandsworth occupies the shore, where the river is lost to the view; and Wandsworth hill in all its beauty, with the woods of Wimbledon park, form the rising distance: a prospect which has been in some measure described as seen from the water; but acquires considerable advantage and a greater extent, from the elevated situation in which the passenger of the bridge commands it.
This view is finely contrasted by the hold and broad length of the river called Chelsea reach, which is seen on the eastern side of the bridge.
Chelsea, with its long line of buildings and the screen of trees before them, covers the Middlesex shore: on the Surrey side, the scene stretches away to the gentle but rich declivities of Clapham; the centre is occupied by a grand expansive flow of water; at the end of which the windmill is seen to mingle with other buildings, while the spires and turrets of the metropolis complete the prospect.
We now regain our boat, and passing beneath Battersea bridge, enter upon this magnificent reach of the Thames that has been just described, which in particular winds is well, as it has too often been fatally, known for the agitation and roughness of its waves.
This circumstance has given rise to a characteristic saying of the Thames watermen, “ that a set of fiddlers having been drowned in this reach many years ago, the river has been occasionally dancing ever since.” As we proceed, we are necessarily induced to remark a public house on the Chelsea bank, which bears the sign of the Swan, and is well known for being the goal of an annual boat-race, which was established by the will of Dogget, a comedian of the present [18th] century, who left an annual sum to the watermen's company, for a coat and badge, and certain inferior prizes, to be rowed for on the first of August, by young watermen who had completed their apprenticeship.
It was formerly a day of great gala to the citizens of London; but so many amusements of a similar kind, and of far superior eclat, have been lately introduced on the river, that Dogget and his badge are almost unnoticed and forgotten, but by those who are immediately concerned in, or are connected with the scene of this annual contest.
Chelsea college, which has been mentioned at large, offers a magnificent object to the water: Ranelagh, with its garden and rotunda, forming together a very pleasing picture, immediately succeeds; and is contrasted by the range of petty buildings on the Vauxhall shore.
Beyond Ranelagh.
among islands of willows, a gut of water runs up to supply the Chelsea water-works, whose fire engine is seen to rise from among them.
The river as we pass on has nothing on either side to attract notice: the lower part of Lambeth, called Lambeth Marsh, and the Willow-walk that leads to Millbank, are not pleasing objects, though a view up the river from the latter presents the scene that accompanies this page.

RIVER from Millbank

In the reign of Oueen Elizabeth there was no house on Lambeth Marsh or Mill-bank, which is so called from a mill formerly standing on the spot, now occupied by Grosvenor house.
But the poverty of the shores are amply compensated in the view before us, which contains the venerable form of Lambeth palace, with Westminster abbey rearing its stately towers on the opposite side of the water; while Westminster bridge appears to stretch across the river in beautiful magnificence before us, with the dome of Saint Paul’s, and the spires of many a church, rising beyond it.

LAMBETH from Millbank

Lambeth is a very large village, and reaches from Battersea to the borough of Southwark.
The name of this place has been variously written in public records and ancient historians.
It is there called Lambehith, Lambeth, and Lambyth, with many other variations.
Many etymologists derive the name from lam, dirt; and hyd or hythe, haven; but Doctor Ducarel, in his history, rather fancifully, suggests a derivation from lamb and hyd.
The earliest historical fact relating to Lambeth, is the death of Hardicanute, which, according to the Saxon Chronicle, happened in the yeai 1041, while he was engaged in celebrating the marriage feast of a noble Dane.
He is related to have died suddenly during the entertainment, as some relate, by poison, and others from intemperance.
Harold, son of Earl Godwin, who usurped the crown after the death of Edward the Confessor, is said to have placed it on his head with his own hands, at Lambeth.
Henry the Third kept his Christmas here with great solemnity, in the year 1231, under the superintendance of Hubert de Bureh his chief justice.
The following year a parliament was held at Lambeth, on the fourteenth of September; wherein the fortieth part of all moveables was voted to the king, for the payment of a debt which he owed to the Duke of Bretagne.
Lambeth appears to have had two distinct manors at the time of the Conqueror’s survey.
The latter was held by the monks of Waltham, of King Harold, and was regranted to them by Edward the Confessor.
At the time of the survey it belonged to the Earl Morton.
This appears to have been what was afterwards called the manor of South Lambeth and Stockwell; as the river is not mentioned in the description of its boundaries in the Confessor’s charter.
The other manor, that of North Lambeth, is said to have belonged to the church of Saint Mary at Lambeth, at the time of the Conquest.
It had already been the property of Countess Coda, the Conqueror’s sister, who presented it to the church at Rochester.
The Conqueror seized it, and gave a part thereof to Odo, Bishop of Baieux; but he afterwards restored it to the convent, together with the patronage of the church.
In the year 1197, the bishop and church of Rochester granted the manor of Lambeth, with the ad- vowson, to Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, and his successors, in exchange for the manor of Darente, and other premises: and it has, from that time, been annexed to the see.
The manor house, or palace, belonging to the Archbishop of Canterbury is a very large pile of building, and exhibits the architecture of various ages.
It appears that Lambeth palace was in a great measure, if not wholly rebuilt by Archbishop Boniface, about the year 1262.
If any part of this structure remains it is the chapel, tHe architecture of which might indeed be ascribed to a more early period.
The windows resemble those of the Temple church, which was built in the twelfth century.
Under the chapel is a crypt, the arches of which are formed of stone, like those of the chapel.
The roof of the latter is of wood, and ornamented with the arms of Arch bishop Laud, flie windows were formerly enriched with painted glass, the gift of Cardinal Morton.
The reparation of this glass, which contained the Scripture history of the Old and New Testament, was imputed as a crime to Archbishop Laud on his trial, and the windows were destroyed by the puritans.
In the vestry of this chapel are several portraits; among which are those of Cardinal Pole ; Doctor Williams, Bishop of Chichester in 1696; Doctor Evans, Bishop of Bangor in 1707; Doctor Gardiner, Bishop of Lincoln in 1694 ; Doctor Whichcote, the learned provost of King’s college; and Dupin, the writer on ecclesiastical history.
The great hall was rebuilt by Archbishop Juxon, after the civil wars, upon (he old model, and at the expence often thousand five hundred pounds.
It is ninety-three feet in length, and thirty-eight feet in breadth.
The guard-room, which appears to have been built before the year 1424, has a Gothic roof of wood, like that of the hall, and is fifty-six feet long, and upwards of twenty-seven feet wide.
In this room is an whole length picture of Henry Prince of Wales.
The long gallery, built about the time of Cardinal Pole, is ninety feet in length, and sixteen feet in breadth.
The wainscot remains in its original state, being all of mantled carving.
In the windows are several coats of arms painted on glass, belonging to various Archbishops of Canterbury.
Over the chimneypiece is a portrait of Martin Luther; a very line picture of Archbishop Warham by Holbein, and a portrait, said to be of Catherine Parr.
The gallery contains also an original picture of Archbishop Parker, an whole length of Cardinal Pole, and the following portraits: the Archbishops Arundell, Chichele, Cranmer, Grindall, Whitgift, Abbot, and Sheldon; Pearce, Bishop of Bangor; Mawson, Fletcher, Moore, Patrick, and Gooch, Bishops of Ely; Lloyd and Hough, Bishops of Worcester; Burnet, Bishop of Saruin; Thomas, Bishop of Winchester; Bishop Hoaclley, painted by his second Lady; Berkely, Bishop of Cloyne; and Bundle, Bishop of Derry.
The view from a window in this gallery is uncommonly striking; from whence Westminster abbey, the bridge, and Saint Paul's cathedral, are seen in very fine perspective, between clumps of trees in the grounds, which exclude the rest of the city.
In the great dining-room, which is very spacious, are portraits of all the archbishops from Laud to the present time; in which it is curious to discover the gradual change that has taken place in the dress of the clergy.
The library occupies the four galleries over the cloisters, which form a small quadrangle.
It is said by Aubrey, in his Antiquities of Surrey, to have been built by Archbishop Sheldon; but it is much more probable that he only restored it, and that the galleries are even prior to the establishment of a library.
For the library the see is first indebted to Archbishop Bancroft, who left all his books to his successors, on the condition of their giving security to transmit them entire.
On failure of such security, they were ordered to be transferred to the theological college then about to be established at Chelsea; and if that foundation should not be completed, to the university of Cambridge.
Archbishop Abbot also, by his will, bequeathed his fine collection of books to the library of his palace.
During the civil wars, the books were seized by the parliament; and the use of them was first granted to Doctor Wincocke; but they were afterwards given to Sion college.
Many of them, however, had strayed into the possession of private individuals, and the library was in danger of being dispersed: when Selden, who was a lover of literature, and had considerable weight with the government, suggested its right to the library, under the will of Archbishop Bancroft; and afforded i(, at the same time, such assistance in the claim, that, in the month of February, 1647, both houses of parliament concurred in an ordinance for removing the Lambeth library to Cambridge.
After the Restoration it was demanded by Archbishop Juxon, and restored to his successor, who prosecuted the claim.
Many of the books, which had found their way into private collections, were recovered; and an ordinance of parliament was made, that the books belonging to the late Archbishop of Canterbury, which were in the hands of John Thurloe and Hugh Peters, should be immediately secured.
The library was considerably augmented by the Archbishops Sheldon, Tenison, and Seeker, and in a particular manner by the latter, who had a very valuable private library, of which he left to his successors all those books that were not already in the Lambeth collection.
The present number of books is supposed to be about twenty-five thousand volumes.
There is only one book which is known to have belonged to Archbishop Parker, being distinguished by his arms; as are those of the Archbishops Bancroft, Abbot, Laud, and Sheldon.
In the windows of the library is some painted glass, consisting of the arms of several of the archbishops, those of Philip King of Spain, and a portrait of Archbishop Chichele.
Among the pictures are an original of Archbishop Bancroft, and portraits of Fox, Bishop of Winchester, Doctor Peter Du Moulin, a librarian of Lambeth palace, and Doctor Wilkins, a domestic chaplain, who were both of them distinguished for their superior learning.
There is also a set of prints of all the Archbishops of Canterbury, from the year 1504 to the present time, collected by Archbishop Cornwallis.
The library of manuscripts is situated over the western part of that which contains the printed books.
It is divided into two parts; the one containing the registers of the see of Canterbury, in excellent preservation; and the other consisting of miscellaneous manuscripts, divided into four sets; — those collected by various archbishops; those of Archbishop Tenison; with the collections of Henry Wharton, and George Carew, Earl of Totness.
This library contains many very valuable manuscripts; and amongst those of singular curiosity are the following:—a translation of the wise Sayings of Philosophers, by Woodvile Earl Rivers, with a beautiful illuminated drawing of the earl presenting his book to Edward the Fourth; a vellum book, containing thirty-five very rich illuminations, representing “ the daunce of Machabree,” commonly called death s dance; a curious Saxon manuscript of a book written by Adhelm, Bishop of Shirebourn, in the eighth century, with a drawing of the bishop in his pontifical chair; and a lady abbess presenting to him eight of her nuns; Archbishop Cranmer’s household book; and a curious and complete copy of Archbishop Parker’s Antiquities, printed in 1572, and interleaved with original manuscripts of records and letters.
This curious book, which was lost out of the library, came accidentally into the possession of Doctor Trevor, Bishop of Durham, who liberally restored it to its original situation in 1757.
The edition is so rare, that only two other copies are known to be extant.
The great tower at the west end of the chapel, usually called the Lollard's Lower, was built by Archbishop Chichele, in the years 1434 and 1435.
On the west side is a Gothic niche, in which was placed the image of Saint Thomas.
At the top of the tower is a small room called the prison, wainscoted with oak of considerable thickness, on which several names and broken sentences, in ancient characters, have been cut with a knife.
In the walls of the room are fixed large iron rings, intended, as it is supposed, to confine the Lollards, and other unfortunate persons who are said to have been imprisoned there.
It is well known that the archbishops, before the Reformation, had prisons for the punishment of ecclesiastical offenders.
Queen Elizabeth frequently converted Lambeth house into a prison; where she not only committed the Popish bishops Tunstal and Thirlebye to the archbishop’s custody, but divers other prisoners of rank.
The unfortunate Earl of Essex was confined here before he was sent to the Tower.
The Earl of Southampton, lord Stourton, Henry Howard, brother of the Duke of Norfolk, and many others, were prisoners in this palace; where it was usual for them to be kept in separate apartments, and to eat at the archbishop’s table.
The gateway and the adjoining tower, which are of brick, were built by Archbishop Morton about the year 1490.
The gardens, which contain about thirteen acres, are disposed with taste, and have been very much improved by the present possessor of them.
Against the wall of the palace are two fig-trees of a very extraordinary size, that cover a surface of fifty feet in height, and forty in breadth.
The trunk of the larger is twenty-eight inches in circumference.
They are of the white sort, and bear very excellent fruit.
Tradition relates that they were planted by Cardinal Pole.
It has been confidently asserted that Stephen Langton is the first archbishop on record who resided at Lambeth; as Hubert Walter is known, on sufficient authority, to have been there in the year 1198.
Archbishop Anselm, in the year 1100, called a synod at Lambeth, to consider of the propriety of the king's marriage with Maud, sister of the King of Scotland ; when it was determined to be legal, as the princess, though educated in a religious house, had not professed herself a nun.
Divers other synods were also held at Lambeth, after it became a metropolitan residence.
In Wat Tyler's rebellion, in the year 1381, the commons of Essex came to this palace, burned or spoiled all the books, drank up all the liquors, and destroyed all the registers and public papers.
Nor was this all; Archbishop Sudbury fell a sacrifice to their resentment.
King Henry the Seventh, a few days before his coronation, was entertained by Archbishop Bourchier at Lambeth.
Catherine of Arragon on her first arrival in England was lodged, with her ladies, for some days, to use the language of Stow, in the “Archbishop’s inne at Lambeth.” Queen Mary furnished this palace, at her own expence, for the reception of Cardinal Pole, and sometimes honoured him with her company.
The visits of Queen Elizabeth to Lambeth were very frequent.
She dined with Archbishop Parker in 1568, and repeated her visits in the years 1573 and 1574.
Of the former of these visits, the archbishop gives the following account in his Antiquities.
“ The queen, removing from Hampton Court to Greenwich, visited the archbishop at Lambeth, where she staid all night.
That day was Tuesday — the next day, being Wednesday, it was usual, as it was the season of Lent, that a sermon should be preached before the queen.
A pulpit, therefore, was placed in the quadrangle near the pump, and a sermon was delivered by Doctor Pearce.
The queen heard it from the upper gallery that looks towards the Thames ; the nobility and courtiers stood in the other galleries which formed the quadrangle.
The people from below divided their attention between her majesty and the preacher.
When the sermon was over, they went to dinner.
The other parts of the house being occupied by the queen and her attendants, the archbishop received his guests in the great room next to the garden below stairs.
Here, on the Tuesday, he invited a large party of the inferior courtiers.
In the same room, on the Wednesday, he made a great dinner: at his own table sat down nine earls, and seven barons; at the other table, the comptroller of the queen’s household, her secretary, and many other knights and esquires; besides the usual table for the great officers of state; where sat the lord treasurer, the lord admiral, the chamberlain, and others.
The whole of this charge was borne by the archbishop.
At four of the clock, on the Wednesday afternoon, the queen and her court removed to Greenwich.
During the time that Archbishop Whitgift held the metropolitan see, there are no less than fifteen of her majesty’s visits recorded to that prelate, when she frequently staid two and sometimes three days at Lambeth.
Lambeth palace became the first object of popular fury during the commotions of the last century, on account of Archbishop Laud, who was extremely obnoxious to the puritans ; though without any material mischief to the place, or the unpopular prelate to whom it belonged.
In the succeeding year, an order was made, by the house of commons, that some of their members should receive the archbishop’s rents, and apply them to the use of the commonwealth ; and, on the eighth of November, Captain Brown, with a party of soldiers, entered Lambeth to keep it for the parliament.
Soon after, the house of commons voted that it should be made a prison; and among the prisoners confined there during the civil wars, were the Earls of Chesterfield and Derby; Sir Thomas Armstrong, who was afterwards executed for being concerned in the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion; Doctor Allestry, a celebrated divine, and Richard Lovelace the poet.
Lambeth house was put up to sale in 1648, and purchased, with the manor, for the sum of seven thousand and seventy-three pounds, by Thomas Scot and Matthew Hardy.
The former was secretary to the Protector, and one of the persons who sat on the trial of Charles the First, for which he was afterwards executed at Charing-cross.
This palace has, at various times, proved an asylum for learned foreigners, who have been obliged to fly from the intolerant spirit of their own countrymen.
Here the early reformers, Martyr and Bucer, found a safe retreat; and here the learned Anthonio, Archbishop of Spalato, was entertained by Archbishop Abbot.
The parish church of Lambeth is situated near the water side, adjoining the archbishop’s palace.
The church was rebuilt between the years 1374 and 1377.
The tower, which is of stone, still remains ; the other parts of the present structure appear to be about the age of Henry the Seventh.
In one of the windows is the figure of a pedlar and his dog, painted on glass: and there is a tradition concerning this representation, that it was intended for a person of that occupation, who bequeathed a piece of land to (he parish, now called Pedlar’s Acre But it is suggested by Doctor Ducarel, in his History, and with some probability, that this picture was intended rather as a rebus on the name of the benefactor, a practice usual in former periods, than as descriptive of his trade.
It was beneath the ancient walls of this church, that the unhappy queen of James the Second, when she quitted Whitehall and fled across the Thames, with her infant prince, took shelter an whole hour from the rain of the inclement night of December the sixth, 1688.
Here she waited, in a state of misery not to be described, till a common carriage was procured from a neighbouring inn, to convey her to Gravesend; from whence she soon after sailed, and bid an eternal adieu to these kingdoms.
In this place, says the amiable Mr.Pennant, “several of the later primates rest from their labours, without any particular monument but their good works;” which is, after all, the best memorial to preserve them from oblivion.
Among them is Bancroft, Penison, Hutton, and.
in a passage leading to the palace, are the remains of Seeker.
Here likewise is interred the mild, amiable, and polished prelate, Cuthbert Tunstal, Bishop of Durham, who, being deprived of his see, on account of his attachment to the old religion, by Edward the Sixth, was restored by Mary, and again deprived by Elizabeth: but so highly was he esteemed for his virtues, even by the Protestant divines, that he found a friendly asylum in the family of Archbishop Parker, and passed his days here with honour and tranquillity till his death, which happened in the year 1559.
In this church also are the remains of Thirlebye, once Bishop of Ely.
He was deprived of his see for the same cause as his fellow sufferer Tunstal.
and found, as he well merited, the same protection.
Being joined in the commission with Bonner, for the degradation of Cranmer, he offered a line contrast to the brutality of his associate by bis amiable sympathy, and melted into tears over fallen greatness.
It is a very curious circumstance that the body of this excellent prelate was found on digging the grave of Archbishop Cornwallis.
His long and venerable beard was entire, and of a beautiful whiteness: a slouched hat was under his left arm, and his dress that of a pilgrim, as he esteemed himself to be upon earth.
There is also a monument to the memory of Robert Scot; who, after having possessed a considerable military rank in the service of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, closed his life in the court of Charles the First; but this gentleman is more peculiarly memorable for having been the inventor of leathern artillery, which he introduced into the Swedish army, and by their operations contributed greatly to the glorious victory of Leipsic.
In the churchyard is a tomb, which deserves the pious regards of every lover of natural History: it is erected to the memory of John Tradescant, who with his son lived in the parish of Lambeth.
He was the first person who formed a cabinet of natural curiosities in this kingdom.
He is said, by some, to have been gardener to Charles the First; but Parkinson, in his Paradisus terrestris , mentions him as “ sometimes belonging to the Right Honourable Robert Earl of Salisbury, lord treasurer of England in his time; and then unto lord Wotton, at Canterbury, in Kent; and lastly unto the late Duke of Buckingham.
Both father and son were great travellers.
The lather is supposed to have visited Russia, and most parts of Europe, as well as Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Barbary, from whence he introduced a great number of plants and flowers, unknown before in our gardens.
This was an age of fforists; and the parterres of that period were indebted for their principal ornaments to his labours.
Many plants were called after his name; which the Linaean system has, in a great measure, rendered obsolete; but the great naturalist has made ample reparation by giving to a genus of plants the title of Tradescantia.
The Museum Tradescantianum, a small book adorned by the hand of Hollar, with the heads of the father and the son, is a proof of their industry.
It is a catalogue of their vast collection not only of the mineral, fossil, and vegetable kingdoms, but ot coins, medals, and artificial rarities from various countries.
In the garden of John Tradescant, at South Lambeth, was a very large arrangement of trees, plants, and flowers ; but more particularly abundant in those of the East and of North America.
His perseverance was great indeed; for the Eastern traveller must then have encountered almost insurmountable difficulties, as well as risked uncommon dangers from the barbarity of the country; and North America had been, in his time, but recently settled: yet we find the names of many trees and plants in his collection, which were considered as uncommon at a much later period.
To him we are also indebted for the introduction ot many fine fruits into this country.
For, as Parkinson observed, “ the choysest for goodnesse, and rarest for knowledge, are to be had of my very good friend, Master John Tradescante, who hath wonderfully laboured to obtaine all the rarest fruits bee can heare oil in any place in Christendome or I urky,— yea, or in the whole world.” He lived in a large house in this parish, and had an extensive garden, which was much visited in his days.
After his death, which happened about the year 1652, bis collection was transferred by Mr.Tradescant, junior, to the learned Mr.Elias Ashmole, who removed it to increase and enrich his museum at Oxford, where it has been carefully preserved.
Time had greatly injured the monument which had been erected to these extraordinary men ; but it was restored in the year 1773, to the honour of the parish, at the parochial expence.
The advowson of the rectors of Lambeth belonged to the monks of Rochester, under the grant of William the Conqueror, till the exchange took place between that church and the Archbishop of Canterbury : since which time it has been the property of his successors.
The ferry of Lambeth belonged to the Archbishops of Canterbury as Lords of the manor.
The profits were usually granted by patent to some of the officers of the archbishop’s household; an annual rent of sixteen pence per annum being reserved, which gradually increased to ten pounds.
On the building of Westminster bridge the ferry was taken away, and an equivalent given to the see of Canterbury.

LONDON from Lambeth

A trench is said to have been cut in the parish of Lambeth by King Canute, for the purpose of conveying his fleet to the west side of London bridge, in order to attack the city by water.
The editor of the last edition of Aubrey’s Antiquities of Surrey, says that some traces of it were visible in his time: but, from the increase of new buildings, no vestiges thereof are now to be seen, and the conjectures about its course are various and uncertain, it is, indeed, more probable that the remains of a trench, which might have been visible half a century ago, were of that which was made in the year 1173 , for the purpose of altering the course of the river when London bridge was rebuilt.
This trench, according to Stow, was begun in the east about Rotherhithe, and ended about Battersea.
Doctor Ducarel, in his History, gives several ancient commissions for divers persons to survey the banks of the river within the parish of Lambeth, and the adjoining parishes; to take measures for the repair, and to impress such workmen as they should find necessary for that employment.
In the Marsh liberty, in this parish, is situated the Asylum, one of the most judicious and useful public charities in this country, which abounds in them.
It is established for the reception of female orphans, who are there not only most carefully instructed in those principles which may preserve them in the paths of religion and virtue; but they are qualified also with those attainments, which will secure them from that want which too often leads to vice and destruction.
About the latter end of the last century a manufactory of plate glass was established at Vauxhall, in this parish, under the patronage of the Duke of Buckingham.
It was carried on with great success, and the glass was thought to excel that made at Venice, or in any other country.
Several mills for sawing, smoothing, and polishing marble, were erected in the same place about the year 1675, which do not now exist.
That part of this parish which lies between the palace and Southwark is called Lambeth Marsh, and though now forming a large town, had not a single house on it in the latter end of the sixteenth century.
Sir William Dugdale makes frequent mention of the works for securing it, in former times, by embankments or walls, to restrain the ravages of the tide.
In a street, called the Narrow Wall, from one of (lie ancient embankments, is Coade’s manufactory of artificial stone; in which all the ornamental parts of architecture are formed in moulds, and burned; so as to produce, at a very small comparative expence, all those beautiful decorations which had hitherto been produced by the laborious and skilful elforts of the chisel.
At a small distance from this manufactory, is the magnificent distillery of Mr.Beaufoy, for vinegar and made wines.
On entering the yard, two enormous upright vessels appear covered in by a dome of thatch; between them is a circular turret, including a winding staircase that leads to their summits, which are upwards of twenty- four feet in diameter.
One of these conservatories is hill of sweet wine, and contains fifty-eight thousand one hundred and nine gallons: or eighteen hundred and fifteen barrels of Winchester measure.
Its superb associate is full of vinegar, to the amount of fifty-six thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine gallons, or seventeen hundred and seventy-four barrels, of the same standard as the other.
It appears, therefore, to contain forty barrels more than the boasted ton of Heydelberg.
Besides these is an avenue of lesser vessels, which hold from thirty-two thousand five hundred, to sixteen thousand nine hundred and seventy-four gallons each.
To this extraordinary exhibition may be added several acres covered with common barrels.
This ground,which the genius of trade has rendered so profitable to the proprietors, and so productive of revenue to the state, was, in an earlier period of the present century, a scene of public entertainment.
In the year 1636, it appears to have been the garden of Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel.
The premises were afterwards rented by a person of the name of Cuper, who had been the earl’s gardener, and from him obtained the name of Cupel’s gardens.
They were opened as a place of public diversion about the middle of the present century; and were at first occasionally honoured with the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
The entertainments consisted of fire-works, illuminations, and music.
But, becoming a scene of low dissipation, it was suppressed in the year 1753.
These gardens were originally decorated with some mutilated statues, the refuse of that celebrated collection brought by the Earl of Arundel from Italy.
These fragments were drawn and engraved for the last edition of Aubrey’s Antiquities of Surrey.
The greater part of them were removed in the year 1717, having been purchased by Mr. Waller of Beaconsfield, and Mr.Freeman ofFawley Court, near Henley upon Thames.
Those which remained were covered with rubbish.
They were afterwards dug out by Mr.Theobald, a subsequent proprietor of the premises, and most of them were given by him to the Earl of Burlington, who removed them to Chiswick.
In the same district of this parish, which lies between the bridges of Westminster and Blackfriars, is a manufactory for making patent shot, which was established about three years ago by Messrs.
Watts.
The principle on which this shot is made, is to let it fall from a great height into the water, that it may cool and harden in its passage through the air, so far as to prevent its receiving any pressure by falling into the water; a circumstance attending the common shot, whose fall is not more than a yard before it touches the water, and thereby loses, in some measure, its spherical shape.
The height of the tower at this manufactory, from the ground to the top of the turret, is about one hundred and forty feet: and the shot falls one hundred and twenty-three leet six inches.
About the same time, Messrs. Boulton, Morgan, and Company, established a manufactory at Lambeth, under the title of the Woollen yarn Company.
Every branch of the clothing manufacture, from the first sorting of the woof to the making of the cloth, is here entirely carried on by the application of machines.
The trade is confined to the coarse sort of cloths, which are exported for the most part to America and the West Indies.
The importation of foreign timber, which forms such a considerable and important branch of our commerce, has been a mine of wealth to the parish of Lambeth ; many of whose wharfs are annually supplied with stores, which, from their almost incredible quantities, would make us tremble lest the forests of Norway and the Baltic should be exhausted.
At Vauxhall are some very extensive distilleries, and several potteries.
The manufacture of stone earthen ware pots is said to have been first introduced there from Holland.
The parish of Lambeth is sixteen miles in circumference.
In Doomsday-book it is said to contain twenty plough-lands and an half.
By a land-scot, levied about the beginning of the last century, it appears to have contained twelve hundred and sixty-one acres of arable land; one thousand and twenty-six of pasture ; one hundred and twenty-five of meadow; thirteen of ozier ; thirty-seven oT garden ground; and one hundred and fifty of wood; making in the whole two thousand six hundred and twelve acres: the commons and waste lands, not charged, may be estimated at three hundred and thirty acres; which will increase the amount to two thousand nine hundred and forty-two acres.
At present, the arable is supposed to exceed the grass land in a proportion of six to four; and the meadows are supposed to be about a fourth part of the latter.
About two hundred and fifty acres are now occupied by the market gardeners, and Mr.Malcolm’s nursery contains so large a space as forty acres, where trees of every growth are reared for use or beauty.
Archbishop Hubert Walter obtained a grant of a weekly market at Lambeth from King John, and a fair for fifteen days, on condition that it should not be detrimental to the interests of the city of London.
But this market and fair have long been discontinued.
The first mention of Vauxhall, or as it was anciently called Faukeshall, a distinguished part of the parish of Lambeth, occurs in a record of the twentieth year of Edward the First.
It might possibly derive its name from Foukes de Brent, who married Margaret de Ripariis, and thus became possessed of the manor of South Lambeth, to which, according to Holinshed, this place appears originally to have belonged.
It appears in Dugdale’s Baronage, that Edward the Second granted the manor of Faukeshall to Roger Damorie: on his attainder for taking part with the barons against the king, about two years afterwards, it was granted to Hugh Le Despencer, who being executed in the year 1326, the manor appears to have been restored to the widow of Roger Damorie, who gave it to Edward the Third in exchange for certain lands in Suffolk.
It was afterwards granted to Edward the Black Prince, and by him given to the church of Can- terbury, to which it belongs ; as Henry the Eighth, on the suppression of that monastery, gave it to the clean and chapter.
Near the Thames there was formerly a large mansion that belonged to Sir Thomas Parry, chancelfor of (he duchy of Lancaster, and held by him of the manor of Kennington.
Here the ill-fated Arabella Stuart, whose misfortune it was to be too nearly allied to a crown, remained a prisoner for twelve months, in the custody of Sir Thomas.
This house, in Norden’s Survey, taken in the year 1615, is called Copt-hall, and is described as being opposite to a capital mansion called Fauxe-hall.
The latter was, probably, the ancient manor house, which was either pulled down or fell to decay soon afterwards, when its name was transferred to its opposite neighbour.
In the survey taken, by order of parliament, after the death of Charles the First, Sir Thomas Parry’s house is described as “ a capital messuage called Vauxhall, alias Copped-liall, bounded by the Thames; being a fair dwelling house, strongly built, of three stories high, and a fair staircase breaking out from it of nineteen feet square.” It was then the property of the crown, having been surrendered to the king in 1629 ; and after this time was particularly described by the name of Vauxhall.
After having been leased to various persons by the crown, Vauxhall house was granted in the year 1725 to Mr.Kent, a distiller, for twenty-eight years.
The site of it is now leased to Mr.Snaith, and is occupied as a distillery by under tenants.
The tradition that Vauxhall, or Fauxhall, was the residence of Guy Faukes, has no better or, indeed, other foundation than the coincidence of names.
Jane Vaux, or Faukes, mentioned in the History of Lambeth, as holding a copyhold tenement at Vauxhall, in the year 1G15, was the widow of John Vaux.
The miscreant Guy was a man of desperate fortune, and so far from possessing a capital mansion, was not likely to have even a settled habitation.
It appears, however, from good authority, that the conspirators of the detestable plot, in which he was concerned, held their treasonable meetings in Lambeth, at a private house, which was accidentally destroyed by fire in the year 1635.
The premises now known by the name of Spring Gardens, Vauxhall, were in the year 1615 the property of Jane Vaux above mentioned: the mansion house upon the estate was then called Stockden’s, as appears from certain records in the duchy of Cornwall office.
On the same authority, it appears that Jane Vaux left two daughters, one of whom was the wife of Barlow, Bishop of Lincoln.
The moieties of the estate, which was divided between them, passed through a succession of possessors till the middle of the present century.
Mr.Jonathan Tyers purchased one moiety of George Doddington, Esquire, for the sum of three thousand eight hundred pounds, in the year 1752.
and in a few years afterwards bought the remainder.
When these premises were first opened as a place of entertainment cannot now be ascertained; though the Spring Gardens at Vauxhall are mentioned in the Spectator as a place of great resort.
Mr.Tyers was proprietor of the gardens, as tenant, at least twenty years before he purchased the estate; which is still vested in his representatives; and it is to his peculiar taste that they owe their convenience and decoration.
Several improvements have indeed been made since his time, but the general arrangement and principal buildings, with their various paintings, and singular but well adapted style of ornament, were contrived and completed by him.
These gardens, which are of considerable extent, are open every evening during the greater part of the summer season: they are illuminated with great splendour; the orchestra offers a very fine band of vocal and instrumental music; several apartments, fancifully ornamented, are open for variety in fine evenings, and for shelter in unfavourable weather; long ranges of alcoves are fitted up for supper parties; the walks are finely shaded with trees; and the whole offers a scene of public amusement, which has no equal, of its kind, in any part of Europe.
In these gardens is a statue of Handel by Roubiliac; a strong likeness of that great musical composer, and a distinguished work of that eminent sculptor.
When the city and suburbs of London were fortified by order of parliament, during the civil wars of the last century, a fort was erected near Vauxhall turnpike.
It is described in a plan of London made at that time, and is given in Maitland’s History, where it is called a quadrant-fort, with four bulwarks.
The manor of Kennington, which is a part of the parish of Lambeth, written Chenintune, was held of Edward the Confessor, by Theodoric, a goldsmith, who was suffered to continue in the possession of it at the Conquest.
After various changes, it reverted to the crown in the reign of Edward the Second, who granted it afterwards for two years to Roger Damorie.
Nor is it altogether unworthy of observation, that, as it appears by the parish register, a family of the name of Damory existed at Lambeth in a state of poverty till the middle of the present century.
Having undergone the same alienations as the manor of Vauxhall, it was vested in the crown in the reign of Edward the Third, and was afterwards made a part of the duchy of Cornwall, to which it continues annexed.
Various conjectures have been formed concerning the residence of our monarchs at the palace of Kennington; though it appears, from good authorities, that it was occasionally inhabited by them as late as the reign of Henry the Seventh.
The parliament held by Henry the Third at Lambeth, is supposed by some writers to have assembled at this palace; and it is still more probable, that he kept his Christmas there in the year 1231 .
Edward the Third, according to Stow, certainly observed that festival there in 1342.
When lord Percy, in the same reign, was in danger from the mob as a favourer of Wickliff, he fled to Kennington, where the Princess of Wales, with the young prince, then resided.
When Richard the Second returned from France,with his young queen Isabella, they lodged for a night at the palace of Kennington, before they went to Westminster.
There is a grant of Henry the Sixth, dated from his manor of Kennington in the year 1440.
Henry the Seventh, previous to his coronation, came from Kennington to Lambeth, where he dined with Archbishop Bourchier; and Leland says, that Catherine of Arragon was there for a few days.
Henry the Eighth farmed out the manor.
Camden says, however, that in his time there were no traces of the palace at Kennington.
It was probably pulled down after it had ceased to be used as an occasional residence by the kings; and the manor house, described in the survey of 1649 , built on the site.
It is there called a capital messuage, but appears by the description to have been of small dimensions.
It was leased by Charles the First, when Prince of Wales, to Sir Francis, afterwards lord Cot- tington, and was sold, by order of parliament, in 1649 ; Richard Graves of Lincoln’s Inn being the purchaser.
In the reign of Charles the Second, it was leased to Henry lord Moore.
Robert Clayton, Esquire, is the lessee of the present day.
On Kennington common is a bridge, called Merton bridge, which formerly was repaired by the canons of Merton abbey, who had lands for that purpose.
Kennington gave the title of Earl to that illustrious prince, William Duke of Cumberland, son to George the Second.
The manor of Stockwell was anciently called the manor of South Larneth, and appears to have comprehended Vauxhall, South Lambeth, and Stockwell.
Baldwin de Insula died seised of that manor in the reign of Henry the Third.
Margaret de Ripariis, Countess of the Isle of Wight, died at her house at Stockwell, seised of the manor of South Lambeth, in the twentieth year of Edward the First.
After passing through a long succession and change of possessors, we find it granted by Queen Mary to Anthony Brown, Viscount Montague, who died seised thereof in the thirty-fourth year of Queen Elizabeth.
It does not appear how it reverted to (lie crown; but it is enumerated among the king’s manor houses, in an household book of the first year of James the First.
Two years afterwards, it appears to have belonged to Sir George Chute, and was sold by the executors of one of his descendants to Sir John Thornycroft, about the latter end of the last century; since which time it has continued in the same family.
A part of the manor house is still standing, and the ancient moat remains, but without water.
Several of the acts of John de Stratford, Bishop of Winchester and lord Chancelfor, are dated from Stockwell.
The manor of Lambeth wick belongs to the Archbishop of Canterbury, having been included in the exchange with the church of Rochester.
Within this manor is Loughborough house; which appears to have formerly been either the property or residence of Henry lord Hastings of Loughborough.
South Lambeth is between Stockwell and Vauxhall.
At this place resided Doctor Ducarel, author of the History of Lambeth Palace, and of Croydon, with other topographical and antiquarian works: and here he closed his laborious life in the year 1785.
Thus have we entered very much at large into the history and description of Lambeth; not only from its antiquity, and the peculiar circumstances that give it distinction; but, as the whole of this extensive parish is crowding with buildings, and daily assuming a new form, its original, and even its present, appearance and character will very soon he found only in the volumes that describe them.
On the opposite side of the river is the city of Westminster, which derived its origin from the abbey or minster, dedicated to Saint Peter, founded on Thorney island, a marshy piece of ground surrounded by water; and so denominated, says Camden, “ from the thick thorns that over-run it.” The relative situation of the abbey, or minster to London, being about a mile to the westward of it, naturally gave it the name of Westmonasterium, or Westminster.
It continued, however, for a great length of time a mean unhealthy place, remarkable for nothing but the abbey, which was very unfavourably situated in this swampy spot, washed by the Thames on one side, and by a small branch of the river called Longditch on the other.
This small streamlet began near the east end of the present site of Manchester-court; from whence, crossing King-street, it ran down the street still called Longditch, and passing Tothill-street a little west of the Gatehouse, continued its course along the south wall of the abbey garden to the Thames; where there is now a sewer built over it.
At length, a few houses were collected round the monastery, which gradually rose into a city, that has since given palaces and sepulture to kings ; where, through many a progressive age, those laws have been framed, and that justice administered, which have united to compose the constitution and government of the first empire in the world.
The city of Westminster continued, for several centuries, to be entirely distinct from the city of London; and the Strand, as the name implies, was the common road that led from the one to the other, along the banks of the river Thames.
By an ordinance of Edward the Third, in the year 1353, certain duties were imposed on wool, leather, and other commodities, carried either by land or water to the staple of Westminster, for repairing the highway leading from Temple Bar to the gate of the abbey at Westminster; the road, by the frequent passage of carts and horses, being then so deep and miry, as to be dangerous both to men and carriages.
It was added, that, as the proprietors of houses near, and leading to that staple, had, by means of the said staple, greatly raised their rents, the way before the houses should be paved at their charge; and that part of the said way where no houses were, should be paved anew out of those duties; and that the remainder of those duties should be applied towards erecting a bridge, near the royal palace of Westminster, for the convenience of the said staple.
But it may be necessary to observe, that this bridge was no more than a landing-place, carried out into the river on piles, like that which is now seen near New Palace Yard.
Possessing a splendid monastery, a royal palace, and having been erected into a staple for wool and other commodities, Westminster became a place of great consideration ; but it owes its chief honours to Henry the Eighth.
On the dissolution of the monastery, that monarch converted it into a bishoprick, in the year 1541, with a dean and twelve prebendaries, and assigned the whole county of Middlesex, excepting the parish of Fulham, for the diocese.
Thus the town of Westminster, being erected into a corporation, with a bishop and cathedral church, acquired, according to the definition of Sir Edward Coke, the municipal distinction of a city.
It did not, however, long enjoy this pretension, as it had but one bishop, Thomas Thirlebye, who being translated to the see of Norwich, in the year 1550, by Edward the Sixth, the new bishoprick was dissolved : but Westminster has nevertheless been since that time considered as a city, and is so denominated in our statutes.
It had long been the seat of the royal palace; the high court of parliament and courts of law were held there ; the greater part of our sovereigns had been crowned and buried in the abbey church: and the ancient palace having been almost entirely destroyed by fire, Henry the Eighth purchased the superb mansion of Whitehall of Cardinal Wolsey in the year 1530, which he converted into a loyal residence.
He also built the palace of Saint James, on the site of a suppressed hospital, dedicated to that saint, and inclosed a large space of ground between the two palaces, which he formed into a park for the accommodation of both.
About the same time he erected the curious gateway near the banqueting-house, after a design of Holbein, which was removed about thirty years ago, to widen the passage from Charing Cross to Parliament-street.
He likewise added a magnificent gallery for the royal family to sit in, to view the tilts and tournaments in the Tilt-yard, for which species of entertainment he had a peculiar predilection.
Contiguous to Whitehall gate he also erected a tennis-court, cockpit, and other places of similar amusement.
The city of Westminster, properly so called, consists of no more than two parishes; those of Saint Margaret and Saint John the evangelist: but the liberties of the city contain seven others ; Saint Martin’s in the Fields, Saint James’s, Saint Anne’s, Saint Paul Covent Garden, Saint Mary le Strand, Saint Clement’s Danes, and Saint George Hanover-square, to which must he added the precinct of the Savoy.
When the bishopric was dissolved, the government of Westminster became subject to the dean and chapter of the collegiate church of Saint Peter, in civil as well as ecclesiastical affairs; whose jurisdiction extends over the city and liberties, and the precinct of Saint Martin s le Grand, in London, all which are exempt from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
But since the Reformation, the civil power has been entrusted to laymen, occasionally elected, and confirmed by the dean and chapter.
The principal magistrate is the high steward, who is chosen by the dean and chapter; and at whose election the dean sits as high steward.
The next in succession is the deputy steward, who is chosen or appointed by the high steward, and confirmed by the dean and chapter.
He keeps the court-leet, with the other magistrates, and is chairman at the quarter-sessions.
The high bailiff, who is the next in rank, is nominated by the dean, and confirmed by the high steward.
He also, as well as the preceding magistrates, holds his office for life, and is the returning officer at the election of members of parliament for Westminster; he summons juries, and takes the next place in the court-leet to the high steward.
All fines, forfeitures, and strays, belong to his office.
There are also sixteen burgesses, and their assistants; whose office resembles that of the aldermen’s deputies of the city of London, each having a certain division under his jurisdiction: from them are elected two head burgesses, one for the city, and the other for the liberties; who rank in the court-leet next to the high bailiff.
There is also an high constable, who is chosen by the court, and has the superintendance over the whole body of constables within his district.
There are no other courts peculiar to the city of Westminster, but the court-leet, the sessions, and the court of conscience for the recovery of small debts: the inhabitants possess no exclusive corporation privileges, nor are there any trading companies within the jurisdiction.
The two representatives in parliament are, therefore, chosen by the householders at large, as in many of the boroughs throughout the kingdom.
“ Westminster,” says Camden, “ is eminently distinguished for its abbey church, the hall of justice, and the king's palace.
The church,” continues he, “ is famous for being the place where the kings of England are crowned and buried.
Sulcardus says a temple of Apollo formerly stood there, till thrown down by an earthquake in the time of Antoninus Pius; from whose ruins Sebert, King of the East Saxons, raised a church to Saint Peter, which being ruined by the Danes, was repaired and given to a few monks by Bishop Dunstan.
Edward the Confessor afterwards chose it for his burial place, and settled here a society of Benedictines, whom he endowed with a tithe of all his revenue, and with estates in different parts throughout England.” That pious monarch caused the old church to be pulled down, and erected a very magnificent structure, for that see, in the form of a cross, which was afterwards universally followed in buildings appropriated to similar purposes.
The work being completed in the year 1065, the king caused it to be consecrated with the greatest pomp and solemnity; and, by several charters, not only confirmed all its ancient rights and privileges, but endowed it with great munificence, and added to it, among other immunities, a charter of sanctuary.
By a bull of Pope Nicholas the First, this church was also constituted the place for the inauguration of the kings of England.
William the Conqueror, as a distinguishing mark of regard to the memory of his late friend king Edward, on his arrival in London immediately repaired to this church, and offered a sumptuous pall, as a covering for his tomb: he also gave fifty marks of silver, together with a very rich altar-cloth, and two caskets of gold ; and, in the succeeding Christmas, was with great solemnity crowned there.
This was the first coronation performed in Westminster abbey.
Henry the Third in the year 1200 began to erect a new chapel to the Blessed Virgin here; but in the course of twenty years, finding the walls and steeple of the old structure much decayed, he pulled them all down, with a design to enlarge and rebuild them in a more regular manner; but he did not live to accomplish this great work ; which was not completed till the year 1285, about fourteen years after his decease: and this is the date of the building as it now stands.
About the year 1502, Henry the Seventh began that magnificent structure, which is now generally called by his name: for this purpose, he pulled down the chapel of Henry the Third, already mentioned, and some adjoining houses.
This chapel he dedicated also to the Blessed Virgin; and designing it as a burial place for himself and his posterity, he carefully ordered in his will, that none but those of royal blood should take their last repose there.
At length, on the general suppression of religious houses, the abbey was surrendered to Henry the Eighth, by William Benson, the abbot, and seventeen of the monks, in 1559, when its revenues amounted to three thousand nine hundred and seventy-seven pounds, a prodigious sum in those days.
Besides the furniture, which was of inestimable value, it had, in different parts of the kingdom, no less than two hundred and sixteen manors, seventeen hamlets, with ninety-seven towns and villages: as it may be supposed of an abbey so endowed and honoured, the head of it enjoyed the privilege of sitting in the house of lords.
On its dissolution, Henry the Eighth erected it first into a college of secular canons, under the government of a dean ; an honour which he thought proper to confer on the last abbot.
This establishment, however, was of no long duration; for in the space of two years after he converted it into a bishoprick, which was dissolved in the course of nine years by Edward the Sixth, who re-subjected the government of the church to a dean, which continued till Mary’s accession to the crown.
In the year 1577, that princess restored it to its ancient conventual state; but Queen Elizabeth again ejected the monks, and in 1560, erected it into a college, under the government of twelve secular canons, or prebendaries.
She also founded a school for forty scholars, denominated the Queen’s Scholars, to be educated and prepared for the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
This illustrious seminary has since been known by the name of Westminster School, and has given to every department in church and state, in liberal science and learned profession, many men of great character and celebrated name.
The abbey church, which was stripped of many of its decorations by Henry the Eighth, and was much damaged, both within and without, during those unhappy commotions that defaced the ancient beauty of so many of the religious houses in this kingdom, had continued, from the death of Henry the Seventh, with but little attention to its repairs or decoration, almost to the present time, when the parliament interposed, and by different statutes, passed in the reigns of William the Third and Queen Anne, a complete reparation was made, and some magnificent circumstances added, as they well deserved, at the expence of the nation.
The towers in the west front were built of stone, brought from Barrington, near Burford in Gloucestershire, after designs from Sir Christopher Wren; who also made drawings for a spire of twelve sides, to be built hereafter.
But this front of the building, whatever grandeur it may possess on a more distant view of it, is not altogether suitable to the rest of this ancient structure.
It has no detached columns, or pierced carving, to which the true Gothic principally owes its lightness; and there is besides a mixture of modern ornaments, very inconsistent with this kind of architecture; such as the broken scroll, pediments supported by consoles, with masks and festoons over the round apertures designed for dials, and other similar deviations from the general style of the building.
The Gothic portico which leads into the north cross was new faced with stone, and, as it appears, with a more happy application of ornaments, by the same great architect.
But we cannot suppose, for a moment, that the defects which we have just mentioned, in the reparations of this venerable structure, arose from any want of skill or taste in that great man, but from those predominant circumstances which so frequently oppress the powers of genius, and were peculiar to the great designs of Sir Christopher Wren.
On the entrance into the abbey, by the western door, the extreme height and long extended perspective of the building, terminated by the richly painted windows at the east end, produce a sublime effect, and awaken in the mind of the beholder that pious awe and reverence so well suited to the solemnity of the place.
Here the whole body of the church is seen at one view.
The clustered pillars, which divide the nave from the aisles, are light and elegant, the arches between them lofty and pointed, and the cloisters or galleries immediately above them, which extend through the whole of the nave, under the roof of the side aisles, greatly enrich the prospect by their open arcades and tracery, and the darkness of their back ground, contrasted with the light of the windows above and below them.
The vaulting of the roof, which rises very high, is at once grand and simple; and adds very much to the extraordinary impression produced on the first view of this beautiful and magnificent structure.
The choir was re-erected in the year 1776.
It is formed of wainscot, and fitted in a manner perfectly correspondent to the character of the church.
If, however, we consider it in a picturesque view, with its ill adapted, as well as ill placed organ case, it is impossible to consider it in any other light, than as an incumbrance to the fabric it should have been contrived to adorn.
The nave was originally an exact Greek cross, exclusive of the multiangular termination of the east end.
The eight arches, between the entrance of the church and the screen of the choir, were added at different times, between the reigns of Henry the Third and Henry the Seventh.
The west window was completed by Abbot Easney, who died in the year 1438.
The length of the building is three hundred and ninety feet; and that of the transept, one hundred and ninety- five feet: the breadth between the walls, seventy-two feet; from centre to centre of the middle columns, thirty-six feet; and the height one hundred feet.
This venerable church, one of the most ancient, as well as beautiful structures with which the piety of our ancestors has enriched this country, is crowded with monuments, of royal and noble persons, — of men eminent for learning, valour, and pre-eminence in art and science.
These memorials exhibit the history of sculpture in this kingdom, from its early ages to the period in which we live; but, unfortunately, they are arranged with so little taste and judgment, that they not only darken and disfigure the fabric, but, in general, are so ill suited to the character of the building, and so ill placed as to their individual effect, that the object loses its beauty, and the artist is deprived of the reputation which he should derive from it.
But the greatest deformity in what may be called the furniture of the church, is the marble altar, in the regular style of Grecian architecture.
An incongruity which the necessity, and not the taste of the great architect who directed the repairs and improvements of the church, must have induced him to adopt.
It formerly belonged to the chapel at Whitehall, and when that palace had been consumed by fire, it was thrown into a lumber-room at Hampton Court, where it was discovered by Sir Christopher Wren, who persuaded the dean and chapter to beg it of Queen Anne.
If this altar were taken away, and the organ removed to some of the side aisles, the confessor's shrine would be seen from the west end of the church in an exalted situation ; and above it the fine chantry over Henry the fifth's tomb; and, crowning the whole, the semicircular ranges of arches, pillars, and painted windows, would form a most singular, majestic, and unparalleled perspective.
Henry the Seventh's chapel is so remarkable for the beauty and richness of its architecture, as to deserve a particular description.
Leland has styled it the wonder of the world.
It is situated at the east end of the abbey, is supported by fourteen Gothic buttresses, beautifully ornamented, and projecting from the building in different angles, and is illuminated by a double range of windows, that throw the light into such an happy disposition, as to produce that fine solemn gloom, which is one of the happiest effects of Gothic architecture.
This chapel is one of the most expensive remains of the ancient English taste and magnificence, and commands the admiration of every beholder.
Abbot Islip, on the part of the king, laid the first stone, on the eleventh day of February, 1503; and it was built at the expence of fourteen thousand pounds.
The entrance to this admirable building is by a flight of steps of black marble, beneath a very noble arch that leads to the gates, which open into the body of the chapel.
These gates are of brass, curiously wrought in the manner of frame-work, and the open pannels are alternately adorned with a portcullis and a rose.
The ceiling is wrought in the most wonderful manner, with such an astonishing variety of figures as baffle description.
The stalls on each side are of oak, with Gothic canopies, most beautifully carved ; and the pavement is of black and white marble, laid at the charge of Doctor Killigrew, a prebendary of the collegiate church of Westminster.
The east view from the entrance offers the brass chapel and tomb of the founder; and round it, where the east end forms a semicircle, are the chapels of the Dukes of Buckingham and Richmond.
Here also rest from the prosperity and disasters of their respective reigns, the rival Queens, Elizabeth and the unhappy Mary Stuart.
The monument of the former has a fantastic canopy over it, erected to her memory by James the First, her successor.
The tomb of the latter is of a similar form.
This ill-fated princess, after being beheaded on a scaffold erected in the hall of Fotheringhay castle in Northamptonshire, was interred with great pomp, by order of Queen Elizabeth, in the cathedral church of Peterborough : but on the accession of her son to the throne of England, he ordered her remains to be removed from thence, and placed near this monument.
It may be curious also to mention, that near the tomb of Mary is that of Margaret Douglas, daughter of Margaret Queen of Scots by the Earl of Angus.
This great lady, though she herself never sat on the throne, had, according to the English inscription, King Edward the Fourth for her great grandfather; Henry the Seventh for her grandfather; Henry the Eighth for her uncle; Edward the Sixth for her cousin-german ; James the Fifth of Scotland for her brother; Henry King of Scotland for her son, and James the Sixth for her grandson; having for her great grandmother and grandmother two queens, both named Elizabeth; for her mother her cousins-german Mary and Elizabeth, Queens of England; and for her niece and daughter-in-law Mary Oueen of Scots.
This highly allied lady died March the tenth, 1577.
To describe all the tombs which adorn this mausoleum of the loyal and illustrious dead, and to give no other sketch of their lives and characters but such as may be read on the marbles that cover their remains, would require a volume; and we can only spare a few pages for a brief history of the city, which this majestic structure ennobles by its form, and sanctifies by the solemn and affecting uses to which it is applied.
We shall, therefore, only mention the several sovereigns of England who are interred in it.
Henry the Third, who died in the year 1272.
The figure of this prince is of brass, lies in a recumbent posture, and is the first brazen image known to have been cast in this kingdom.
Edward the first, who died in the year 1307.
It is a very curious circumstance, which cannot be entirely passed by without a cursory relation of it, that, in the year 1770, antiquarian curiosity was so far indulged by the dean and chapter of Westminster, as to obtain leave for certain members of the Society of Antiquaries to inspect the remains of this renowned prince; in order to discover, if possible, the composition which gave such duration to the human body.
On lifting up the lid of the tomb, the royal body was found wrapped in a strong thick linen cloth, waxed on the inside; the head and face were covered with a sudarium, or face-cloth of crimson sarcenet, in three folds.
On opening the external mantle, the corpse was discovered richly habited, with all the ensigns of majesty.
The body was wrapped in a fine linen cere cloth, closely fitted to every part, even to the very face and fingers.
It was, indeed, the existence of the writs, “ de cera renovanda circa corpus regis Ed- wardi primi ,” that occasioned this curious research.
Over the cere cloth was a tunic of red silk damask; above that a stole of thick white tissue crossed the breast; and on this, about the distance of six inches from each other, quatrefoils of fillagreen work, of gilt metal set with false stones, imitating rubies, sapphires, amethysts, etc. and the intervals between the quatrefoils on the stole, powdered with diminutive white beads, tacked down into a most elegant embroidery, in form not unlike what is called the true lover's knot.
Above these habits was the royal mantle of rich crimson satin, fastened on the left shoulder with a magnificent fibula of gilt metal, richly chased, and ornamented with four pieces of red, and as many of blue transparent paste, with twenty-four additional pearls.
The corpse, from the waist downwards, was covered with a rich cloth of figured gold, which fell down to the feet, and was tucked beneath them.
On the back of each hand was a quatrefoil like those on the stole.
In his right hand was a sceptre, with a cross of copper, gilt, and of elegant workmanship, reaching to the right shoulder.
In the left hand appeared a rod and dove, passing over the shoulder.
The dove, which is of white enamel, stands on a ball placed on three ranges of oak leaves of enamelled green.
The head, which was lodged in the cavity of the stone coffin, was adorned with a crown of gilt metal, charged with trefoils.
The late Sir Joseph Ayloffe has given a very minute account of this curious, and I had almost said sacrilegious, examination, in the third volume of Archaeologia, published by the Antiquarian Society.
Eleanor of Castile, the beautiful and affectionate queen of Edward, was deposited here in the year 1290.
Edward the Third, with his Queen Philippa, interred at his feet.
Richard the Second, and his first consort Anne, daughter of Wincelaus, King of Bohemia.
Their tomb was erected by Henry the Fifth.
Henry the Fifth, whose monument was built by Henry the Seventh.
His royal consort Catherine was interred in the chapel of our Lady in this church.
When her grandson, Henry the Seventh, ordered that to be pulled down to make room for his own magnificent chapel, he suffered her remains to be carelessly thrown into a wooden chest, where they still rest, near the tomb of her illustrious Henry.
Edward the Fifth, and Richard Duke of York.-—In the reign of Charles the Second, certain small bones were found in a chest under a staircase in the Tower, which by order of Charles were removed here; and, on the supposition of their belonging to the murdered princes, a cenotaph was erected, by order of that monarch, after a design of Sir Christopher Wren.
Henry the Seventh and his queen, in the beautiful chapel which he himself built, and ordained to be his sepulchre.
Queen Elizabeth, and Mary Oueen of Scots, after the contrasted events of their lives, repose in the same sanctuary of death.
James the First and his amiable son Henry Prince of Wales; Charles the Second, William the Third, and his consort Mary; Queen Anne, and George the Second, with Frederick Prince of Wales, and several of his royal descendants, rest from the toilsome grandeur of power and station, in the chapel of Henry the Seventh.
We shall take our leave of this solemn scene; where the monarch, the hero, the statesman, the divine, the philosopher, the poet, and the beauty, mingle their dust together, with the charming but awful reflections of Mr.Addison on the place which has been the subject of our consideration.

“When I look upon the tombs of the great,
every emotion of envy dies in me:
when I read the epitaphs of the beautiful,
every inordinate desire goes out:
when I meet with the grief of parents upon a tombstone,
my heart melts with compassion;
when I see the tomb of the parents themselves,
I consider the vanity of grieving for those whom we must quickly follow:
when I see kings lying by those who deposed them;
when I consider rival wits placed side by side;
or the holy men that divided the world with their contests and disputes,
I reflect with sorrow and astonishment on the little competitions, factions, and debates of mankind.
When I read the several dates of the tombs, of some that died yesterday, and some six hundred years ago,
I consider that great day, when we shall all of us be contemporaries, and make our appearance together."

Many of the ancient parts of the abbey remain besides the church.
The cloisters are entire, and filled with monuments.
The north and west cloisters were built by Abbot Littlington, who died in the year 1386 : he also erected the granary, which was afterwards the dormitory of the king’s scholars; but has been rebuilt, in the present century, from a design of the Earl of Burlington.
The entrance into the chapter-house, which was erected in the year 1250, is on one side of the cloister, through a very enriched and magnificent Gothic portal.
A descent of several steps leads to the chapter-house: it is of an octagon form, each side of which had very superb and lofty windows, now filled up, and is lighted by others of a lesser size.
The opening into this room is equally magnificent with that from the cloister.
The stone roof is destroyed, and one of plank supplies its place.
The central pillar remains, light, slender, and elegant, surrounded by eight others, bound by two equidistant fasciae, and terminated in capitals of beautiful simplicity.
By the consent of the abbot, in 1377, the commons of England first held their parliaments in this place.
Here they sat till the year 1547, when Edward the Sixth granted the chapel of Saint Stephen for that purpose.
It is at present filled with the public records; and among them is the original Doomsday-book; which, after a period of seven hundred years, since it was first made, is in as fine preservation as if it were the work of yesterday.
Beneath the chapter-house is a very singular crypt.
The roof, which forms the floor of the former, is supported in the centre by a short, round, hollow pillar, that spreads into massive plain ribs, extending equally to the sides.
The walls are not less than eighteen feet thick, and form a very solid base to the superstructure.
They had been pieiced with several small windows, which are now lost by the vast increase of earth on the outside: one is just visible in the garden belonging to Mr.Barrow, through whose house access can alone be obtained to this extraordinary vault.
The Jerusalem chamber was part of the abbot’s lodgings, and is remarkable for having been the place where Henry the Fourth breathed his last.
Near the abbey stood the sanctuary, profaned, in ancient times, by affording refuge to criminals of certain denominations.
The chinch belonging to it was in the form of a cross, according to Doctor Stukeley, who remembered it standing, and double; one part being built over the other: it possessed prodigious strength, and required much labour to destroy it.
It is supposed to have been the work of Edward the Confessor.
Within its precincts Edward the Fifth was born; and here his unhappy mother took refuge, with her younger son Richard, in the vain hope of securing him from the ambitious designs of his cruel uncle.
To the west of the sanctuary stood the eleemosynary, or almonry, where the alms of the abbey were used to be distributed.
But it is still more remarkable for having been the place where the first printing press, known in England, was erected.
It was in the year 1474 ; when William Caxton, encouraged by the learned Thomas Milling, then abbot, produced the Game and Play of the Chesse, the first book printed in this kingdom.
Beside the abbey stands the church of Saint Margaret, built originally by Edward the Confessor, at the desire of the monks, who wished to transfer the parochial duties from the abbey.
It was rebuilt in the time of Edward the First; and again in that of Edward the Fourth.
This church is honoured with the remains of that great man and distinguished character, Sir VY alter Raleigh, \\ ho was interred here on the same day oil which he suffeied in Old Palace Yard.
The east window is of painted glass, and forms a very beautiful picture of the crucifixion; with ollier accessoiy figures and devices.
It has been considered as worthy of being O engraved by the Antiquarian Society.
The royal palace of Westminster was built by Edward the Confessor.
It was situated near the Thames; and the stairs that ascended to it from the river, still retain the name of Palace Stairs.
The two Palace Yards were also inclosed within the walls of this extensive edifice.
Many parts of this ancient palace exist at this day; but are applied to uses very different from those to which they were originally designed.
The sweat hall was built by William Rufus.
The entrance into it from New Palace Yard was distinguished on each side by towers, magnificently ornamented by statues in various rows above each other, now lost, or concealed by modern buildings.
1 he mutilated figure of an armed man, supposed to have been one of these decorative statues, was discovered under the Exchequer staircase in the year 1781.
The size of the hall may be estimated, when we are told that Henry the Third entertained in it, and the adjoining rooms, six thousand men, women, and children, on new year’s day, 1236.
It fell into decay before the reign of Richard the Second, who rebuilt it in its present form, in 1397 ; and in 1399 kept his Christmas in it with his usual magnificence.
This room exceeds in dimensions any in Europe, which is not supported by pillars: its length is two hundred and seventy feet, and in breadth seventy-four.
The height adds to the solemnity of its appearance.
He roof is principally formed of chesnut wood, very curiously constructed, and in a good style of Gothic ornament.
It is adorned with the figures of angels, supporting the arms of Richard the Second, or those of Edward the Confessor.
The stone moulding that runs round the hall is ornamented with the hart couchant under a tree, and other devices of Richard the Second.
Parliaments were often held in this hall.
In the year 1397, during the reign of Richard the Second, when it was become ruinous, that monarch ordered a temporary apartment to be erected for his parliament, which was formed of wood, and covered with tiles.
It was open on all sides, that the people might be present at the proceedings.
But the freedom of debate, which so gloriously distinguishes the parliaments of our day, seems to have been precluded by the jealous power of the monarch; who, according to Stow, surrounded the house with four thousand Cheshire archers, with their bows bent, and their arrows ready to be discharged.
Courts of justice, in very early times, sat in this hall, where the monarchs themselves frequently presided, for which reason it was called Curia Domini Regis , as one of them is at this day called the Court of King’s Bench.
The first chief justice was Robert le Brun, appointed by Henry the Third.
Here are held the coronation feasts and state trials; and among many other circumstances that will render this hall interesting to every age, is the trial of that accomplished prince, but unfortunate monarch, Charles the First.
The house of Lords is a spacious and lofty chamber, which, though not altogether adequate to the dignity, is suitably fitted up for the convenience, of that branch of the constitution by which it is occupied.
It is ornamented with tapestry, that records the celebrated and important victory over the Spanish Armada; and was made by order of the Earl of Nottingham, lord high admiral and commander in chief on that glorious day.
Of that nobleman it was purchased by James the First.
The design was made by Cornelius Vroom, and the tapestry executed by Francis Spienng.
Vroom had an hundred pieces of gold for his labour.
The arras itself cost one thousand six hundred and twenty-eight pounds.
It was not fixed in its present situation till the year 1650, in the time of the commonwealth, when the house of Lords was used as a committee-room for the house of commons.
The commons of Great Britain assemble in a room which was originally a chapel, built by King Stephen, and dedicated to Saint Stephen the martyr.
It was afterwards rebuilt in a new and more beautiful form by Edward the Third, in the year 1347, and made a collegiate church, with a dean, twelve secular canons, and other ecclesiastical officers.
Its annual revenue, at the dissolution of religious houses, amounted to one thousand and eighty-five pounds ten shillings and five pence; when it was surrendered to Edward the Sixth, who in a short time applied it to that important purpose, which has since given a dignity to its character, and elevated the meanness of its architectural appearance.
Under Saint Stephen’s chapel was formerly another beautiful building of the same kind, which was inhabited by the late Duke of Newcastle, as auditor of the Exchequer; and since his death has been converted into an official residence of (he speaker of the house of commons.
One side of a cloister originally belonging to it, having been found convenient for a passage, is fortunately preserved.
The roof retains a specimen of Gothic tracery which is not transcended by the beautiful workmanship in the chapel of Henry the Seventh.
This cloister was added to the chapel so late as in the reign of Henry the Eighth, by Doctor John Chambers, physician to the king, and the last dean of this college.
In the immediate vicinity to Westminster hall stood the staple of wool, which was removed from Flanders to Westminster, and several other places in England, in the year 1353, by Edward the Third; a measure which brought great wealth into the kingdom, and produced no inconsiderable addition to the royal revenue.
Ibis removal of the wool-staple to Westminster occasioned such an increase in the population of the royal village, that, under this commercial influence, it soon grew into a considerable town.
Part of the old gateway to the staple was standing in the year 1741, when it was taken down on the building of Westminster bridge.
The Star chamber, so tremendous for its power in the Tudor and part of the Stuart reigns, still retains its name; which, as Mr.Pennant observes, was not derived from the stars that formerly glittered on its roof, as they had been defaced even before the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but from the Starra, or Jewish covenants, which were deposited there in chests, under three locks, by order of Richard the First.
No starras were allowed to be valid except they were found in those repositories; where they remained till the banishment of the Jews by Edward the First.
This room is now called the Painted chamber, and is used as a place of conference between the Lords and commons.
Many other apartments of the ancient palace of Westminster are still preserved, on each side of the entrance into Westminster hall, near the law court of the Exchequer, and the office of the duchy of Lancaster.
The palace of Whitehall was originally built by Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, the great justiciary of England in the reign of Henry the Third.
He bequeathed it to the Black Friars in Holborn, in whose church he was interred in the year 1243, and they disposed of it to Walter de Grey, Archbishop of York, in the year 1248, who appointed it, by will, to be the residence of his successors in that see; in whose possession it continued for several centuries, and was styled York house.
It of course devolved to Cardinal Wolsey, in his archiepiscopal character; and here that ambitious prelate lived in a state of splendour, which modern sovereigns could not rival, when he was called down, from the height on which he stood, by the capricious pleasure of his imperious master.
The royal palace of Westminster having at this time suffered greatly by fire, Henry purchased this palace of his fallen servant in the year 1530 : when it became the residence of our princes, till it was almost entirely destroyed by the same irresistible element in the year 1697 .
The banqueting house, that masterpiece of Inigo Tones, is almost all that remains of this palace.
It was executed by Nicholas Stone, master mason and architect to James the First, was finished in two years, and cost seventeen thousand pounds; but was only part of a vast plan, which the unhappy times that succeeded prevented from being carried into execution.
The ceiling of this noble room was painted by Rubens, and is one of his most admired works; for which he was paid three thousand pounds.
The subject is the apotheosis of James the First, and is represented in nine compartments.
It is painted on canvas, and is still in fine preservation.
Some years ago it was taken down, and completely cleaned and repaired, by that admirable artist and amiable man, Mr.Cipriani.
And here we cannot but observe on the shortness of human foresight, as well as the strange and unexpected events of our unhappy allotment; for this superb edifice, in a very few years after it was erected by James the First, served as the passage of his unfortunate son and successor to the scaffold.
The banqueting house has long since been converted into a royal chapel; and a certain number of preachers, from the two universities, are appointed by royal authority to preach in succession every Sunday.
The collection of paintings formed by Charles the First, and which were esteemed among the first in Europe, were kept in a room called the cabinet room, in this palace, which had been built by order of Prince Henry, after a design of Inigo Jones.
These pictures were sold after the death of that sovereign, by order of the ruling powers; and of course suffered a dispersion, which the arts of this country have great reason to lament.
In the year 1680, a complete plan of this great palace was taken by John Fisher, and engraved by Vertue in 1747 ; by which its soul hern front appears to have stretched along the banks of the river, while that towards the north extended along Parliament-street, as far as Scotland Yard; including the present situation of the Admiralty, and part of Spring Gardens.
There were two stairs that led from the palace to the Thames; the one for the use of the public, and the other for that of the royal family alone.
The first still remains; but the other is filled up in the old wall adjoining to the fine residence of the Earl of Fife; but the arch of the portal remains entire.
The space occupied by this palace is now covered with spacious and stately houses, which command the river; and among the principal of them is that of the Earl of Fife, who, by the embankment which he has formed, commands the Thames from Westminster to Blackfriars bridge, including both those magnificent objects, with all the beautiful and stupendous scenery connected with them: the whole forming a view that has no equal, of its kind, in any country in the world.
On the north side of Whitehall, in the place occupied by Scotland Yard, stood a magnificent palace, erected for the reception of the Scottish monarchs whenever they visited the capital of England.
It was originally given by King Edgar to King Kenneth the Third, as a place of residence, on his annual journey to do homage for the kingdom of Scotland; and in after times, for Cumberland, and other fiefs of the crown.
Here Margaret, widow of James the Fifth of Scotland, and sister to Henry the Eighth, resided for a considerable time after the death of her husband.
Saint James’s palace was originally an hospital, founded and dedicated to Saint James, by some pious persons before the conquest, for fourteen leprous females; and eight brethren were afterwards added, according to Willis, to perform divine service.
It was surrendered to Henry the Eighth in 1531, who erected on its site the present palace, which Stow calls a goodly manor.
The marshy grounds that lay behind it were inclosed by that monarch, and formed into a park, which was equally convenient for this palace and that of Whitehall.
It was afterwards much improved by Charles the Second, who greatly enlarged it, planted it with rows of lime trees, formed the canal, with a decoy and the aviary adjoining the Bird-cage walk; which, according to Mr.Pennant, derived its name from the cages that were hung in the trees.
Colley Cibber, in the Apology for Ins Life, mentions that Charles, who is said to have been very fond of this place, was often seen here to amuse himself with feeding the water-fowl, and playing with his dogs.
Succeeding kings indulged the people w ith the privilege of walking in it; and William the Third, in the year 1699, granted the neighbouring inhabitants a passage into it from Spring Gardens.
At the west end of the park, fronting the end of the mall, stands the Oueen’s house.
It was originally called Arlington house, being the property of a nobleman of that title.
It was afterwards purchased by John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, who, after obtaining an additional grant of land from the crown, rebuilt it in a magnificent manner, in the year 1703, and from that time it was called Buckingham house.
His grace has given a particular description of it, as well as his manner of living there, in a well known letter addressed to his friend the Duke of Shrewsbury.
The Duke died in 1720 ; and his Duchess, who was a daughter of James the Second by Catherine Sedley, lived here till her death.
She was succeeded by the duke's natural son, Charles Herbert Sheffield, on whom his grace had entailed it after the death of the young duke, who died a minor.
It was purchased from Sir Charles Sheffield by his present Majesty, who immediately settled it upon the Queen, and it has since received the title of the Queen’s house.
This edifice, in its original state, possessed a certain elegant simplicity, which has been very much diminished by the great variety of additional and incongruous buildings that have been erected for the convenience and pleasure of its royal inhabitants.
The King’s library, containing a very rare and magnificent collection of books, formed under the auspices of his present Majesty, with apartments for drawings, models, &c.
occupies a considerable part of the new buildings on the south side of the palace.
The apartments of the princesses offer a great deal of irregular building behind the opposite wing.
With all this confusion, however, the structure still presents an handsome front to the park; and contains very fine apartments, fitted up in a splendid taste, and enriched with an exuberance of what is best in the various branches of the arts.—But, which far transcends every other circumstance of elegance or grandeur, it also exhibits a continual scene of domestic comfort and virtue, more enviable than the exalted station which is at once relieved and ennobled by it.
If we were to enumerate all the buildings and edifices which add to the elegance, convenience, and splendour of the city of Westminster, this volume would not be sufficient to contain the various history.
We shall, therefore, content ourselves with the general outline we have given, and those peculiar circumstances of distinction which could not be omitted ; and, returning to the river, conclude our account of Westminster, with that bridge which contributes so much utility and beauty to it.
This bridge, which extends one thousand two hundred and twenty-three feet, is built of stone, on fifteen semi-circular arches, and crowned with a balustrade.
The central arch is seventy-six feet wide, and the others decrease in width four feet on each side.
The piers between the arches are semi-octangular, and terminate on the footway in recesses of that form, of which twelve are covered with semi-domes, equally ornamental and commodious.
Two large plain pedestals rise above the balustrade on the centre of the bridge.
The width between the balustrade is forty-four feet, and the extent of the piers seventy.
There are also two spacious stone staircases at each end of the bridge, which form convenient communications with the river.
This bridge was erected under the direction of Charles Labelye, a native of France ; and for majestic simplicity of style is without a rival in any part of the world.
The first stone was laid the twenty- fourth day of January, 1739, by Henry Earl of Pembroke, distinguished not only for the purity of his taste, but bis consummate knowledge in architecture.
Twelve years were employed in building it, and the expence of this stupendous fabric amounted to three hundred and eighty-nine thousand five hundred pounds.
But it would be doing injustice to this bridge, as well as to the subject of this work, if we were not to give some faint idea, which is all that words can give, of the magnificent prospect that presents itself to those who pass over it; combining such an happy intermixture of water and buildings, of permanent grandeur and varying scenery, as is not to be found in the view of any other river in the world.
From this elevated situation there appear two distinct pictures, finely contrasted to each other.
That to the south comprehends about two miles of the river, terminated by the Surrey hills.
On the eastern side is Lambeth church, with the venerable palace of the archbishops of Canterbury; and almost opposite to it, on the other shore of the river, is the church of Saint John’s Westminster, with its four turrets, which, notwithstanding all their architectural defects, enrich the scene.
The near view on the Westminster side is full of grandeur, and composed of the towers of Westminster abbey, the steeple of Saint Margaret’s church, and Westminster hall; all uniting to form a splendid and picturesque group of ancient architecture.
The view towards the north, and down the river, offers a scene even of superior magnificence.
The Thames here takes a bold sweep toward the east, and displays its greatest breadth of water.

SOMERSET PLACE & ADELPHI from Temple Gardens

From hence the eye naturally ranges along the embankment of Whitehall, and resting, for a moment, on the refreshing foliage of those trees that shade lord Fife’s beautiful terrace, continues its course to the Adelphi: it then dwells awhile on the extensive elevation of Somerset place, and passing on to the Temple buildings and gardens, it rises at once to the upper part and dome of Saint Paul’s, which present themselves in superior majesty to the view, and, with the surrounding spires, finish this splendid picture.
This prospect also comprehends a very extensive range, which is in a great measure, if not altogether detached from the water; and is composed of that vast part of the city of Westminster which falls gradually down from Saint Mary le Bonne to the shore of the Thames.
This view embraces an immense mass of buildings ; with here and there a scattered steeple to lighten its bulk; while the theatre of Drury-lane rears its head aloft; and if it does not add to the beauty, it must be allowed at least to break the uniformity of that surface of roofs above which it towers.
Of Whitehall, the first object which presents itself on the continuance of our voyage, we have given all the history which we have space to give; and immediately beyond it commences that line of buildings which occupies the Strand, and from whence various streets decline to the water.
The Strand, now one of the most busy, populous, and crowded parts of the united cities of London and Westminster, in the year 1353, was no more than a road, that led from the former through the village of Charing, now Charing Cross, to the abbey of the latter.
It was then occupied only by a few houses of the nobility, which had been built there from the pleasantness of the situation, on the banks of so fine a river; and the names of whose possessors are still retained in the districts where these mansions once stood.
At this period the Strand, as has already been mentioned, was in such an impassable condition, that Edward the I lin'd, by a special ordinance, directed a tax to be raised upon wool, leather, wine, and all goods carried to the staple of Westminster, from Temple Bar, for the repair of the road ; and that al l owners of houses adjacent to the highway should repair as much of it as lay before them.
There appear to be several instances of grants for building in this extensive road of communication, in the very early periods of our history.
Edward the First granted to Walter le Barbur a void space in the parish of Saint Clement’s Danes and Saint Mary le Strand: and Robert le Spencer had a grant also of the same kind from the same prince.
There was, however, no continued street here till about the year 1533: before that period it was entirely separated both from London and Westminster, and nothing intervened except the scattered houses already mentioned, and a village, which afterwards gave a name to the whole: in this year, however, we find that great part of it was paved, and that letters patent had been obtained of the king, to pave the highway before and near the Savoy in the Strand, for the space of five hundred feet.
It appears, however, that about the year 1560, a street, or rather a line of detached houses, with their gardens, as has already been noticed, occupied the shore of the Thames, and had stairs for the convenience of taking water.
Several of these stairs remain at this day, and bear the names of the houses to which they formerly belonged.
As the court, during several centuries, resided at Westminster or Whitehall, a boat was the usual, as it was the most commodious, conveyance of the nobility to the presence of their sovereign.
The north side of the Strand was a mere line of houses from Charing Cross to Temple Bar, very loosely built; and all beyond was the country.
The gardens which occupied the site of Covent-garden, were bounded by fields, and the parish of Saint Giles was a distant village.
All of which appears in the plan of London, made by Ralph Aggas, about the year 1562.
In the same century, however, several and very considerable additions were made to the north of the Strand.
In the year 1600, Saint Martin’s-lane was built on botli sides; Broad-street and Hol- born were completely formed into streets, that stretched on to Snow- hill.
Covent-garden and Lincoln’s-inn Fields were built, but in an irregular manner.
Drury-lane, Clare-street, and Long-acre arose in the same period.
Though Northumberland house does not immediately present itself to the Thames; yet, from its situation at the entrance of the Strand, and the probability that some of its possessors will hereafter open it to the water, and form another line embankment to the river, we cannot with propriety pass by this splendid residence of the Percy family.
It occupies the site of the hospital of Saint Mary Rounceval, and Henry the Eighth granted it to Sir Thomas Cavarden.
It was afterwards transferred to Henry Howard, Earl of Northampton, who, in the reign of James the First, built an house on the spot, which, during his life, was called after his name.
After his death, it descended to his relation the Earl of Suffolk, when it changed its title for that of its second possessor.
In the year 1642, Algernon Earl of Northumberland, lord high admiral of England, became the proprietor of this house by marrying the daughter of the Earl of Suffolk, when it obtained a third name, which it has since continued to bear, of Northumberland house ; and from that nobleman it descended to its present noble owner.
The greater part of the house was built by Bernard Jansen, an architect in the reign of James the First; and it has undergone a variety of subsequent alterations from the noble persons who have successively possessed it: but the final completion of its magnificence, which rendered it the finest house in the metropolis, was conducted by the taste and splendid spirit of the late Duke of Northumberland.
This noble edifice is confined, in front, by a very narrow part of the Strand, and, behind, by a cluster of mean buildings, coal-wharfs, and other offensive objects, as far as the Thames.
But the power of removing these disgusting circumstances, and giving to Northumberland house the magnificent improvement of extending its garden to the banks of the river, is now vested in the owner of it: the late duke having received from the crown all the intervening ground, iu exchange for certain lands in the county of Northumberland, which were necessary to answer certain purposes of government.
At no great distance from those wharfs, which, without any peculiar spirit of prophecy, we may suppose will one day add to the splendour of Northumberland house, are Hungerford stairs and market, which take their name from the distinguished family of the HungerLords of Fairleigh in Wiltshire.
Sir Edward Hungerford, who was created a knight of the Bath at the coronation of Charles the Second, had a large house on the site, which he pulled down, and occupied the situation with several smaller habitations.
On the north side of the market-house there is still seen a bust of one of the family.
Near Hungerford market was formerly the town residence, or, in the language of Stow, “ the inne of the bishop of Norwich;” but was exchanged, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, for the abbey of Saint Bennet Holme in Norfolk.
In the following year, 1536, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, gave his house, called Southwark Place, in exchange for it.
In the reign of Oueen Mary, it was purchased by Heath, archbishop of York, and, from that time, called York house.
Toby Matthew, archbishop of that see in the time of James the First, exchanged it with the crown for several manors which were annexed to his church.
The Lords Chancelfors Egerton and Bacon resided in it; who were succeeded by the royal favourite, Villiers Duke of Buckingham, by whom it was enlarged and fitted up in a style of great magnificence.
In the year 164S, the parliament bestowed it on lord Fairfax; whose daughter and heir marrying George Villiers, second Duke of Buckingham, it reverted to its right owner, who, after the Restoration, made it the place of his residence.
After the death of this nobleman, the house was sold, and the ground belonging to it was parcelled out into streets, which are still known by the general appellation of York buildings.
The beautiful rustic gate at York stairs is the work of that great architect Inigo Jones, and worthy of the genius that designed it.
The lions on this gate are said to have been sculptured by Andrew Kearne, a German.
On the east side of York buildings is a black octangular pyramid, that contains a fire engine to raise water for the convenience of the neighbourhood.
The York buildings company, to whom it belongs, were incorporated by act of parliament in the year 1691.
To the east of these buildings, and on the same bank of the river, was Durham Yard, which till within these few years consisted of wharfs and warehouses; and is now occupied by that mass of buildings known by the name of the Adelphi.
It derived its former denomination from a palace built there by Anthony de Beck, patriarch of Jerusalem and bishop of Durham, in the reign of Edward the First: and was designed as a town residence for him and his successors.
It was afterwards rebuilt by Bishop Thomas de Hatfield, who died in the year 1381.
Bishop Tunstal afterwards exchanged it with Henry the Eighth, who erected it into a palace.
Edward the Sixth gave it to his sister Elizabeth, during her life: but Mary, considering this gift as an act of sacrilege, granted the reversion to the see of Durham.
At this place, in the year 1540, was held a magnificent feast, given by the challengers of England, who had caused it to be proclaimed in France, Flanders, Spain, and Scotland, that a great jousting and tournament would be holden at Westminster, for all comers that would undertake them.
But it so happened, that both challengers and defendants were of the English nation.
After the gallant sports of each day, the challengers rode to Durham house, where they kept an open table, and gave a superb entertainment to the king and queen,with her ladies and all the couit.
In this time of their housekeeping, says Stow, “ they had not only feasted the king, queen, ladies, and all the court, but they also cheered all the knights and burgesses of the common house in the parliament, and entertained the mayor of Tondon, with the aldermen and their wives at a dinner.
The king also gave to every of the said challengers and their heirs for ever, in reward of their valiant activity, one hundred marks, and an house to dwell in, of yearly revenue, out of the lands pertaining to the hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.” In the reign of Edward the Sixth, the mint was established in this house, under the management of Sir William Sharrington, and the influence of the ambitious Thomas Seymour, lord admiral.
There he proposed to coin a sufficient quantity of money to accomplish his designs on the throne; but they were discovered, and he suffered death.
This house afterwards became the residence of the aspiring Earl of Northumberland, who, as is related by Holinshed, in May, 1553, caused to be solemnized, in this palace, with great magnificence, three marriages; his son, lord Guilford Dudley, with the lovely, amiable, and accomplished Lady Jane Grey; lord Herbert, heir to the Earl of Pembroke, with Catherine, younger sister of Lady Jane; and lord Hastings, heir to the Earl of Huntingdon, with his youngest daughter Lady Catherine Dudley.
From this place he led his reluctant daughter-in-law to be invested with the regal dignity; and, in eight little months, his fatal and foolish ambition conducted this paragon of her sex to the nuptial bed, the throne, and the scaffold.
Durham house was considered as one of the royal palaces in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; who gave the use of it to Sir Walter Raleigh.
In 1640 it was purchased by Philip Earl of Pembroke, who pulled it down and built several houses on the site.
It was become a nest of wharfs and warehouses, as has already been mentioned, when it was purchased, about thirty years since, by two brothers of the name of Adam, who conceived the very grand design of erecting the mass of buildings, since called the Adelphi, in honour of those distinguished architects.
As Durham Yard inclined with a steep descent to the river; to remedy this inconvenience a vast range of arches was formed, in order to raise the streets intended to occupy the vacant space to a level with the Strand.
But the principal part of the Adelphi is a broad terrace, supporting a range of handsome houses that front the river, and command a view replete with various magnificence.
This view comprehends that fine bend of the Thames, with all its navigation, between the two bridges of Blackfriars and Westminster; while the abbey and its towers rising beyond the one, and Saint Paul's rearing its superb dome above the other, with the intermediate range of buildings that connects them both, and the Surrey hills in the opposite distance, compose a picture which it is not easy to conceive, and is impossible to describe.
The next object which demands our attention is the Savoy; the remains of whose ancient state are now employed as a military prison and hospital for the regiments of Guards.
The palace of Simon de Montford, Earl of Leicester, according to Stow, stood on this place.
Henry the Third had granted to Peter of Savoy, uncle to his Queen Eleanor, all the houses upon the Thames where this building now stands, to hold to him and his heirs, yielding yearly at the Exchequer three barbed arrows for all services: that prince accordingly erected the building, which was called after his name, and bestowed it on the friars of Montjoy.
01 them it was purchased by Queen Eleanor, who gave it to her son, Edmund Earl of Lancaster.
It was made the place of confinement of John King of France in the year 1356, after he was taken prisoner at the battle of Poitiers.
It was also the place of his residence and his death, when he came over to England in the year 1363, to apologize for the escape of one of his sons, whom he had left an hostage for the performance of certain treaties.
In the year 1381, the Savoy was burned by Wat Tyler, from some resentment he entertained against John Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, who was then the proprietor of it.
The rebels even issued a proclamation, that no one should convert any part of the rich effects to their own use on pain of death ; and they actually flung into the fire one of their companions who had possessed himself of a piece of plate.
They afterwards found certain barrels, which they cast into the flames, from an opinion that they were filled with gold and silver: the contents, however, happened to be gunpowder, which blew up the great hall, and destroyed several houses.
The ground devolving to the crown, Henry the Seventh began to rebuild on it, with the design of forming an hospital, for the reception of an hundred distressed people.
He says in his will, that he intended by this foundation, “ to doo and execute six out of the seven works of pitie and mercy, by meanes of keping, susteyning, and mayn- tening of common hospitallis; wherin if they be duly kept, the said pouer people bee lodged, viseted in their sicknesses, refreshed with mete and drinke, and, if nede be, with clothe; and also buried, if they fortune to die within the same: for lack of them infinite number of pouer people miserably daillie die, no man putting hande of helpe or remedied’ Henry the Eighth completed the design; and the revenues of it, at the suppression by Edward the Sixth, amounted to five hundred and thirty pounds per annum.
Queen Mary restored it; and her maids of honour, with exemplary piety, furnished necessaries: but it was again suppressed by Oueen Elizabeth, who ordered the revenues to be applied to the support of the hospitals of Bridewell, Christ church, and Saint Thomas, as had been intended by Edward the Sixth.
The Savoy afterwards became the habitation of several distinguished persons, and was applied to uses very different, at least, from those for which it is now employed.
The original chapel of the Savoy was made parochial, after the sacrilegious destruction of the church of Saint Mary le Strand by Edward Duke of Somerset; when the inhabitants of that parish united themselves to those of the precinct of the Savoy; till the year 1723, at which time they repaired to the New church erected for them.
The roof of the Savoy chapel is of curious workmanship : it is flat, and covered with elegant small compartments cut in wood; surrounded by shields containing emblems of the passion.
In the chancel there are several ancient monuments.
The next object that demands our consideration, as it has long excited our attention, is Somerset house, or as it is now called, since the re-edification of it in its present superb form, Somerset Place.
It was originally built by the Duke of Somerset, in the reign of Edward the Sixth, whose sacrilegious power destroyed the parish church of Saint Mary le Strand, the inns, as they were then called, or town residences, of the bishops of Litchfield and Coventry, Chester, and Llandaff, as well as several other buildings, to form a space for the erection of this magnificent palace.
Part of the church of Saint John of Jerusalem was blown up for its materials: the cloisters of Saint Paul’s underwent the same fate, for the same reasons, with other edifices, which piety had reared, and religion had supposed to be secure from such destructive impiety.
Nor was any atonement made, or compensation offered, to those who were injured by these abominable dilapidations.
The architect of this building is mentioned under the name of John of Padua, who had a salary in the preceding reign, with the title of Devizor of his majesty’s buildings, which was continued to him also in the reign of Ins son and successor.
It does not appear, however, that the Duke of Somerset ever inhabited this stately structure; as it was not finished in the year 1549, and in 1552 he suffered, on the scaffold, the death he had so long deserved.
On the execution of this nobleman his palace devolved to the crown; when the queen gave the use of it to her kinsman lord Hunsdon ; though she sometimes made it the place of her own residence.
Anne of Denmark kept her court here; which, as Wilson relates, “ was a continued mascarado, where she and her ladies, like so many sea nymphs or Nereides, appeared in various dresses, to the ravishment of the beholders.” Catharine, the neglected queen of Charles the Second, resided here for some time during the life of her inconstant and faithless husband; and continued to occupy it, after his death, till she retired to her native country.
The architecture of old Somerset house was a mixture of the Grecian and the Gothic, introduced into England in the reign preceding its erection.
A part of the back front, and the water-gate, were built from a beautiful design of Inigo Jones, after the year 1645.
A chapel was also erected by him, and designed for the use of the Infanta of Spain, the intended spouse of Charles the First, when Prince of Wales.
On the failure of that marriage, it was applied to the general purposes of religious worship.
In its original state it had a spacious garden, that opened on the Thames, which was planted with trees, and divided into grass plots and gravel walks, according to the formal taste of that period.
It remained, however, till the palace was pulled down in the present reign, and served as a place of evening recreation, in the summer season, to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood.
But these gardens, and the whole site of the ancient palace, is occupied by that immense fabric, which has been erected at the expence of the nation, for national purposes.
Sir William Chambers is the architect of this magnificent structure; and whatever faults it may possess in certain parts, it certainly has some claim to the character of magnificence.
The great object of this building was to unite in one mass a certain number of the public offices, in the more active departments of government; a design eminently calculated to promote the dispatch of public business; and, of course, to answer the ends of public convenience.
To unite, therefore, such a vast variety of internal arrangement as these different offices would require, and to inclose them in an exterior form of grandeur and beauty, was no common attempt, and attended with no common difficulty.
The success of this design, therefore, is such as may have been expected from the circumstances which governed the progress of it.
The front towards the Strand is the superior part of this structure, both as to grandeur of design and elegance of enrichment.
That the rustic basement, though a fine specimen, is too predominant a feature, must be acknowledged by any one who considers it in its comparative proportions with the parts it supports: nevertheless, if this elevation of Somerset Place had been extended according to the original intention, which we doubt not governed the architect in his design, this front would have formed one grand unbroken line of building, and have been a proud ornament to the metropolis of our country.
But even in its present incomplete state, the admirers of architecture will acknowledge the professional skill and experience that produced it.
The interior of the quadrangle has the merit of uniformity, and tire elevation that fronts the south, is not without elegance of design: but the part of this vast edifice which ought to have been the best, and is beyond all comparison the worst, is the vast range of its buildings that presents itself to the Thames.
It is erected on a noble terrace fifty-three feet in breadth; and the whole elevation, when finished, will extend eleven hundred feet.
This terrace is supported by a lofty arcade, consisting of thirty-two arches, each twelve feet wide, and twenty-four feet in height: the grand semicircular arch in the centre being intended for the reception of the royal barges.
The length of this arcade is well relieved by projections distinguished by rusticated columns of the Tuscan order.
Indeed the whole of this lower member of the building is in a grand style of design; and if the incongruous mass it now supports had been conceived with the same spirit, the whole would have exhibited one of the finest examples of architecture in Europe.
At present, we cannot consider it as possessing any beauty but in very detached parts ; or any grandeur but what arises from mere size and extent.
The centre is a kind of temple with a dome, that, though suited in its proportion to the particular division of the building which it crowns, becomes a very diminutive object when considered as a feature of the general design.
A number of parts are then arranged on each side of this centre, which though they answer to each other, and have the merit of precise uniformity, do not blend into one plan, so as to form a complete and perfect whole.
To say that the banks of the Thames are not enriched by Somerset Place, would be a declaration that every one who has passed on the water before it would be ready to confute; but we surely have cause to regret, that though the Thames may be adorned by such a large extent of regular edifice, it is not ennobled by the classic purity and magnificence of the design.
Ihe interior of this building is not only applied to the public service, in combining many of the principal public offices beneath its roof, but contains apartments for the Royal and Antiquarian Societies; while a very considerable portion of it is appropriated to the important uses for which the Royal Academy was established by his present Majesty.
To the east of Somerset house stood Bath’s inn, the name given to the residence of the bishops of Bath and Wells, when they visited the capital, it was wrested from them in the reign of Edward the Sixth, by that violent and powerful nobleman lord Thomas Seymour, high admiral of England, and took the name of its noble possessor.
After his execution, it passed to Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, and was called Arundel palace.
The Duke de Sully, who was lodged in it during his embassy to England, on the accession of James the First, says it was one of the finest and most commodious houses in London, from its great number of apartments on the same floor.
But though the buildings may have covered a great extent of ground, they were both low and mean, as appears from the views lately given of them by Mr.Thane: the gardens, however, were very extensive, and the views from them, botli up and down the river, as well as on the opposite shore, if they did not possess the grandeur of the present period, were more replete with natural beauty.
Here was preserved that magnificent collection of statues formed by the Earl of Arundel, and which, in its dispersed state, has established the reputation that the original collector of it possessed for a superior taste in every thing that related to the fine arts.
This noble house was pulled down in the last century; but the family titles of Norfolk, Arundel, and Surrey, dignify the streets which have been erected on the spot where it stood.
After it came into the possession of the Duke of Norfolk, who presented his library to the Royal Society, he permitted that learned body to hold their meetings in Arundel house; which privilege they possessed till it suffered dilapidation; when they removed to Gresham college.
Where Essex-street now falls down to the river, was a very magnificent palace, belonging to the bishops of Exeter.
It was built by Walter Stapleton, bishop of that see, and lord treasurer of England ; who, being a favourite of Edward the Second, was seized by the mob, when, after beheading him in Cheapside, they buried his corpse before the gates of his palace, beneath an heap of sand.
In the general spoil of ecclesiastical property, in the reign of Henry the Eighth, the first lord Paget is recorded to have taken possession of it; and, after having greatly enlarged and improved it, called it after his own name.
The design of the Duke of Somerset, as it was alleged, in making this house the theatre for assassinating several of the council, involved the owner of it in his ruin.
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth it appears to have passed to the great Earl of Leicester, and had changed its name to Leicester house.
That nobleman left it to his son-in-law, Robert Earl of Essex, (he brave, the gallant, but unfortunate favourite of Elizabeth; and his title was the last of the many it had possessed.
It was also the scene of that rash and inconsiderate conduct which brought him to the scaffold.
From Essex house he sallied forth, in the vain hope of exciting the citizens of London to arm, in his behalf, against their sovereign.
To tills palace, however, with that courage and spirit which marked all his actions, he forced his way back, in spite of every danger and impediment; when after a short siege in it, he submitted to the power that he could no longer resist; and received that punishment, which, with all his great and noble qualities, he must be said to have deserved.
The names of Essex-street, Essex-stairs, and Devereux- court, aid the page of history in perpetuating the scene of these transactions.
In the year 1670, the Strand was divided from Fleet-street by the gate called Temple Bar, which forms the boundary of the city liberties.
Before the great lire of London, this termination was distinguished by posts, rails, and a chain, which, as in other places, marked the extremity of the city’s jurisdiction.
An house of timber was afterwards built across the street, with a narrow portal, for the same purpose ; till, at length, it was succeeded by the present structure, built of Portland stone, consisting of a large gateway and a postern for foot passengers on either side of it.
Its exterior appearance is not inelegant, and of the Corinthian order: its eastern side is adorned with the statues of Queen Elizabeth and James the First; while on the western elevation appear those of Charles the First and Charles the Second.
Over the key-stone of the arch, which is elliptical and very flat, are the arms of Great Britain.
This gate has ever been a more particular object of attention to the inhabitants of London, and more generally known by name, in every part of the kingdom, than any other building of the kind in the metropolis, from its having been appointed by government as a proper place to expose the heads of those who suffer death for endeavouring to subvert the government of their country.
The last of these were executed in the year 1746 ; and, from the enlightened understanding, and loyal spirit of the people, as well as the superior blessings which Englishmen are conscious that they enjoy over every other nation of the world, there is good reason to believe that we shall no more behold those horrid spectacles in any part of the British empire.
Near this western boundary of the limits of the city of London are the entrances into the Temple, which occupies a very large space of ground, that declines to the river Thames.
It is now divided into two inns of court, the Inner and the Middle Temple; and originally derived its name from the military order of the Knights Templars, so well known for their bravery, their devotion, and their wealth, throughout Christendom.
They were originally persons engaged in the crusades, so frequent in the earlier centuries of the Christian sera; who, being quartered in places adjacent to the holy temple in Jerusalem, formed themselves, in the year 1118, into an institution, by the name of the order of the Brethren of the Temple of Solomon, called Knights Templars, and consecrated themselves to the service of religion by deeds of arms.
Hugo de Paganis, Geoffrey of Saint Omer’s, and seven others, began the order, which they regulated according to the rules of the order of Saint Augustin.
They professed also to give protection to the pilgrims from all insult or robbery in their way to the holy tomb, and assumed a white habit, with a red cross on the shoulder.
By their devotion, and the fame of their gallant actions, they acquired great consideration in every part of Europe ; and were so enriched by the favour of princes, and other great men, that, at the time of their suppression, they possessed, according to Matthew Paris, sixteen thousand Lordships, besides large estates and valuable treasures.
At length, on account of their great wealth, though the dissipated lives of some of the knights formed the ostensible reasons, they were suppressed by order of Pope Clement the Fifth, in the year 1310, when they were condemned to perpetual penance, and dispersed into monasteries in various parts of Europe.
This order is supposed to have come into England in the early part of the reign of King Stephen, and had their first house, called the Old Temple, on the south side of Holbourn, where Southampton buildings now stand.
There they continued till the year 1185, when they removed to an house on the banks of the Thames, which was called the New Temple.
Here they flourished in great wealth and honour, under the government of a master, who was head of all the preceptories and houses of these knights in England.
After their dissolution, this house, with all their possessions in London, was granted by Edward the Second to Thomas Earl of Lancaster; and, after his rebellion and forfeiture, to Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke.
On his death, it was for some time usurped by the younger Hugh Despencer; but was afterwards given by Edward the Third to the Knights Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem, who, in the same reign, leased it to the students of the common law, in whose possession it has since remained.
The church was founded by the Knights Templars in the reign of Henry the Second, on the model, as it has been generally said, of the holy sepulchre, and was consecrated in the year 1185, by Heraclius, patriarch of Jerusalem.
The church had a master and four stipendiary priests, with a clerk, who, when Stow wrote his history, were allowed stipends out of the revenues of the hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, as in the reign of Edward the Sixth.
Since the reign of Henry the Eighth the appointment of the master has been in the gift of the crown.
From the present style as well as form of the western part of the church, there can he little doubt of its great antiquity.
It is a complete rotunda, divided into three stories: the lower story has six pointed arches, resting on clusters of four pillars: it has also aisles with dented arches on the walls, and over them round windows, corresponding with the principal arches.
The middle story is adorned with interlaced arches, and in the upper one are six single round arches, above which rises a plain wall supporting the roof.
The western door is richly charged with ornaments in the Saxon style; its pillars and capitals are of the same order with those which range under and round the windows.
About the middle of this rotunda are ranged on the floor two groups of figures, inclosed in an iron railing.
But though they lie, at present, on the pavement, it is most probable they had each their separate table, as was usual with our sepulchral effigies in the recumbent posture.
In confirmation of this conjecture, Mr.Camden mentions certain parts of inscriptions which he read on one of those tombs, and on the side of the same; which also renders it probable that each of these figures lay on its separate tomb, ranging, perhaps, round the church, as in many other instances; and that the present disposition of them is posterior to the time of our great antiquary, as well as to that of Stow, who mentions “ eleven monuments of noblemen in the round walk of this church.
eight of them images of armed knights, five lying crosse-legged, as men vowed to the Holy Land against the Infidels and unbelieving Jews; the other three straight-legged; the rest are coped stones, all of grey marble.” Sir William Dugdale also mentions “eight statues in military habits, each of them large and deep shields on their left armes; of which five are cross-legged.
There are also,” adds he, “three other grave-stones lying about five inches above the level ground: on one of which is a large escutcheon, with a lion rampant engraved thereon.” But alterations have since taken place respecting their arrangement, as they are now divided into two separate groups, each having a distinct railing to surround it.
In the first are four, each of them cross-legged; three of them are in complete mail, in plain helmets, flatted at top, and with very long shields.
One of them is known to have been Geoffrey de Magnaville, first Earl of Essex, and created in 1148 by King Stephen; which honour being confirmed to him by the Empress Maud, the king caused him to be seized, and made him purchase his liberty with the Tower of London, of which he was constable, and his two castles of Walden and Pleshey.
Impelled, therefore, by resentment for this reduction of his power and influence, he committed the most violent ravages on the king and his party; and proceeding to pillage Ramsay abbey, he was mortally wounded in an attack he made on Burwell castle in Cambridgeshire.
Some Knights Templars, however, on his death, clothed his body in the habit of their order, and brought it to their orchard in the Old Temple, London.
But as he died under sentence of excommunication, they could not give him Christian burial; but wrapping his corpse in lead, hung it on a crooked tree.
At length, the sentence being taken off by the pope, on the application of the prior of Walden abbey, which the Earl of Essex had founded, he was buried in the place where we find this memorial of him.
This great baron inherited from his ancestors above one hundred manors, with the office of constable of the Tower of London.
One of these figures is of a very singular appearance, being bareheaded and bald; his legs armed, his hands mailed, his mantle long, and a cowl round his neck, as if, according to the common superstition of those early days, he had been buried in the dress of a monk, lest the evil spirit should take possession of his body.
In this group is also a stone coffin of a ridged shape, conjectured to have been the tomb of William Plantagenet, fifth son of Henry the Third.
The second group contains five figures, all armed in mail; but none of them are cross-legged, except the outermost.
Of the eight figures, that of Geoffrey de Magnaville alone is ascertained; but Camden conjectures that three are intended to commemorate William Earl of Pembroke, who died in the year 1219, and his sons W illiam and Gilbert, likewise Earls of Pembroke, and marshals of England.
On the death of his brothers he succeeded to the paternal inheritance ; and lost his life at a tournament at Ware, in the year 1242.
The eastern part of the church is used, in common, by the two societies of the Inner and Middle Temple; to which the western part, that has received such a particular description, now serves as an anti-chapel or vestibule.
These inns of court have been built at different times, and contain many large courts and handsome waIks, peculiarly adapted, by their pleasantness and retirement, for the residence of students.
The great hall of the Middle Temple is a venerable structure; and was rebuilt during the period when the famous Plowden was treasurer of the society, about the year 1572.
It is a spacious room, and of fine proportions.
The beautiful roof is of timber, in the Gothic style, with ornamental enrichments.
On the pannels round the hall are painted the coats of arms of the readers, from the year 1597 to 1790.
The place is still preserved, but the duties of it have long been omitted.
This room escaped the great fire which destroyed the greater part of the Temple that lay to the east.
The hall of the Inner Temple is handsome, and of considerable dimensions, though it cannot vie, either in point of size or beauty, with that which lias been just mentioned.
It is, however, ornamented with emblematical paintings by Sir James Thornhill; and by two whole length portraits of those renowned pillars of the law Littleton, and Coke his commentator.
This hall is famous for its entertainments and Christmas gambols, in former centuries.
The great feast given by the sergeants in the year 1555 has long been the wonder of modern times; and whose bill of fare, which is still preserved, makes the proudest entertainments of modern times sink into nothing.
Of the Christmas gambols held here authentic records are preserved, which are not easily reconciled to the refinements of outage.
In the year 1562, it appears from these accounts, “that the lord chancelfor, with all the great law officers, hunted, in this hall, a fox and cat, with ten couple of hounds, the huntsman blowing his horn until the fox and cat were set upon by the hounds, and killed beneath the fire.” These, with other similar sports and mummeries, are related to have amused the sages of the law and rulers of the land; and the Inner Temple hall can never be seen, however altered in its form, by the learned antiquary, without reflecting on the Christmassings and merry disports of former centuries.
Each of these inns of court have their libraries, as well as their halls, with their respective officers.
The library of the Middle Temple was given to the society by the will of --- Astley, Esquire, one of the benchers, and contains upwards of nine thousand volumes.
The garden of the Inner Temple, which forms such a delightful resource to the inhabitants of that centrical part of the metropolis, has been lately enlarged by a considerable embankment of the river, which affords a very beautiful walk, commanding a grand retrospective view of the river, which, with its magnificent objects, have already received the faint description of a former page.
Shakspeare, in his play called the First Part of Henry the Sixth, but whether he derives the circumstance from history or tradition does not appear, represents the Temple garden as the place where those distinctions of the white and red rose originated, which became the distinctive badges of the unrelenting houses of York and Lancaster; beneath which their respective partizans ranged themselves in that fatal quarrel, which caused so much blood to flow throughout this distracted kingdom.

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

It also forms the subject of one of the pictures painted by Mr. Josiah Boydell for the Shakspeare Gallery.
Though there is nothing peculiar in the buildings which compose the Temple, it is a considerable feature on the banks of the river; and the upper part of the hall of the Middle Temple, broken by the lofty trees that grow near it, is a picturesque object from the water.
As we may now be said to have entered the city of London, it will be necessary to moor our boat a while, to give an outline of its history, and some general account of those circumstances which render the metropolis of the British empire the first city in the world.
It appears to be the opinion of those, whose inquisitive sagacity stamps the best authority upon conjecture, that London existed in the time of the ancient Britons, and was a place of much resort.
Its situation was precisely such as it might be supposed they would choose for a town: it was surrounded by a forest, and on the banks of a river : for even so late as in the reign of Henry the Second, “large woods,” according to Fitzstephen, “covered the northern neighbourhood of the city, and was filled with various species of beasts of chase.
But though there is good reason to suppose that London was possessed by the Romans in the time of Claudius, there is no mention made of it till the reign of Nero, when Tacitus speaks of it, not as a colony, but as a place distinguished for its commerce.
Of the etymology of its name, I shall adopt the opinion and the words of Camden.
“Tacitus, Ptolemy, and Antoninus call it Londinium, and Longidinium; Ammianus, Lundinium and Augusta; our Welsh neighbours Lundayn ; our Saxon ancestors LonoenceajTep; fabulous writers Troja Nova, Dinas Belin, or Belin’s city, and Caer Ludd, from King Ludd, who, as they pretend, built it, and called it after his own name.
But these later names and originals, with Erasmus’s conjectures, deducing it from Lindus, a city of Rhodes, I leave to such as are fond of them.
For myself, as Caesar and Strabo expressly say, that the Britons gave the name of cities or towns to woods and groves fortified by trees, which they had cut down; and as I am informed that groves, in the British language, are called Limn.
I am almost led to think London had its name from thence, as the city, by way of eminence ; or the city in the grove.
If I am mistaken in this conjecture, may I be allowed,” continues our renowned an- tiquary, “ to hazard another: that it originally derived its name, as it has since done its wealth and glory, from its ships; which the Britons call Lhong, as much as to say, the port or city of ships.
The Britons call a city dinas, whence the Latin dinum is formed.
Hence it is sometimes called Longidinum; and, in the song of a very old British bard, Lkongportk, the port of ships; and, by the same name, Boulogne in France, which Ptolemy calls Gessoriacum navalmn, is called in a British glossary Bolling long.
Many cities took their names from ships, as Naupactus, Naustathmus, Nauplia, Navalia Augusti; but none have a better title to such name than our London: a city most happily situated with respect to both elements, in a rich and plenteous soil, on a gently rising hill on the side of the Thames, that easy conveyer of the commerce of the world, which, swelled by the regular tides of the ocean in its safe and deep channel, admitting the largest vessels, brings in daily so much wealth from the East and the West, that it may at this time claim the prize from the Christian world; and affords so secure as well as convenient a situation for ships, that it may be styled a forest of masts, and a thicket of sails.
“ The founder,” says Camden, “ is lost in antiquity; and indeed few cities know their founders, so inconsiderable their original, and so gradual their rise;—but this city, according to the tales of Geoffrey of Monmouth, has claim to be derived from the I rojans, and that Brute, the great son of the great Tineas, was its founder.
But whoever founded it, its fortune shows it to have been founded with a fortunate omen: and its eminent antiquity appears from Ammianus Marcellinus, who calls it, in his time, which is upwards of twelve hundred years ago, an ancient city; to whom we may add Tacitus, who says it was distinguished, as has already been mentioned.
by its trade, and the great resort of merchants to it in his day.
This only was wanting to complete its glory, that it had not the title of a municipium, or colony; as it was not the interest of Rome that the inhabitants of a mercantile city should have the privileges of Roman citizens.
I imagine it, therefore, to have been a prafectura, which was the name given to cities where fairs were held, and justice was administered ; not by their own magistrates, but by prefects sent annually from Rome, and subject to the controf of the Roman senate.
For this reason London is called only oppidum by Tacitus and others.
But though it attained no higher degree, in the scale of towns or cities, it was extensive, rich, and flourishing during the far greater part of its continuance under the Roman, Saxon, and Norman government.” That London had long been a town of considerable trade before the time of the Romans is evident, among other proofs, from the testimony of Ccesar, who assigns, as a principal reason for attempting the invasion of this island, the great supplies which were furnished by the inhabitants of it to the Gauls, and greatly impeded the progress of his arms on the continent.
The exports from hence, at that early period, were cattle, hides, and corn; dogs also were an article of British commerce; and, if we may believe Strabo, slaves were a considerable object in this country, which was afterwards destined to be the temple of liberty.
The imports were salt, earthen ware, and works in brass, polished pieces of bone in imitation of ivory, horse-collars, toys of amber, and glasses, and other articles of the same material.
London, however, had no buildings either of brick or stone till it was inhabited by the Romans; the habitations of the ancient Britons being chiefly formed of wattled twigs.
Indeed we do not find this city mentioned till about the year sixty-one, in the reign of Nero, when Boadicea, enraged at the personal insults offered to herself and her family, with the cruel treatment which the Britons received from their conquerors, collected a considerable army; and, after having gained several advantages over the Romans, at length drove the general Paulinus Suetonius from London; when she desolated the city, and massacred all the inhabitants she found in it.
In a few years, however, London recovered from this dreadful catastrophe, and increased so much in the number of inhabitants, as well as in its trade and buildings, that Herodian, who wrote in the time of the Emperor Severus, calls it a great and wealthy city.
When the Romans became masters of this city, they enlarged the precincts and altered their form.
It extended in length from Ludgate-hill to a spot a little beyond the Tower.
The breadth, in the widest place, was not one half of the length, and became much narrower at either end.
Maitland is of opinion, that the walls were not built round London till a very late period of the empire.
His notion, however, that it was an open town, has no other foundation than its having been surprised in the time of Dioclesian and Maximilian.
by a party of banditti; but they were immediately subdued by a cohort of Roman soldiers, who had foitunately come up the river in a log.
The time, however, in which the wall was built is very uncertain: some ascribe that stupendous work to Constantine the Great, and others to Theodosius, governor of Britain, in the year 369.
As to the latter, we are informed by Ammianus Marcellinus, that, after he had cleared the country of the barbarians, he redressed grievances, strengthened the garrisons, and repaired the cities which had suffered any dilapidations : and if London were among them, there can be little doubt of its having long been surrounded with some kind of fortification.
In the language of Camden, “ Constantine the Great, at the request of his mother Helena, first inclosed the city with a wall of hewn stone and British brick, about three miles in circuit, so as to make the form of the city a square, not exactly equilateral, as the sides from east.to west were somewhat longer than those from north to south.
That part of these walls which ran along the river lias been washed away.
Fitzstephen, who lived in the time of Henry the Second, tells us that some traces were then to be seen.
The rest remains firmer towards the north, which in the year 1474 was repaired by Joceline, then mayor, and assumed, as it were, a second youth.
On the east and west, though repaired by the barons in their wars with the materials of the Jews’ houses, all is ruinous and decaying.” Such is the account of Camden, which is strengthened by the number of coins of Helena which have been discovered beneath these walls; and it is further confirmed by the title of Augusta, which was given to the city about this period, in honour of that empress, and superseded, for some time, the ancient name of Londinium.
Mr.Maitland, however, is of opinion, that the wall was not erected till the time of the first Emperor Valentinian, about the year 368.
Britain had been reduced to great misery by the joint attacks of the Scots, Piets, Saxons, and Franks; the Romans had also been defeated in several engagements, till the arrival of Theodosius the elder restored their affairs, who, after having routed the enemy, entered the city of London in triumph.
This general, according to Ammianus Marcel! inus, by repairing some of the cities and castles, and fortifying others, left every thing in such an happy state of settlement, that peace was preserved in Britain till the departure of the Romans in the reign of the Emperor Honorius.
The ancient course of the walls is described in the following manner, by those whose antiquarian zeal has urged them to the curious research.— It began with a fort near the present site of the Tower, was continued along the Minories and the back of Houns- ditch, across Bishopsgate-street, in a straight line by London Wall to Cripplegate; it then returned southward by Crowder’s-well- alley, where several remnants of lofty towers were lately to be seen, to Aldersgate; thence along the back of Bull-and-mouth-street to Newgate, and again along the back of the houses in the Old Bailey to Ludgate; soon after it finished where the house which was lately the king’s printing-house in Black Friars now stands : from thence another wall ran near the river side, along Thames-street, and joined the fort on the eastern extremity.
These walls were three miles one hundred and sixty-five feet in circumference, were guarded, at proper distances, on the land side, with fifteen lofty towers, some of which were remaining at no very distant period.
Maitland mentions one near Gravel-lane, on the west side of Hounsditch, another about eighty paces south-east towards Aldgate, and the base of a third, supporting a modern house, at the lower end of the street called the Vineyard, south of Aldgate.
The same writer conjectures, that the wall in its perfect state was about twenty-two feet in height, and that the towers rose to forty feet.
He also adds, that its preservation was anciently considered as so necessary to the safeguard of the city, that a law was passed to prevent any tenement or building from being erected within sixteen feet of it.
Doctor Woodward, who, in the year 1707, had an opportunity, from a part of London Wall being then pulled down near Bishopsgate, to examine its fabric and composition, gives the following very curious history of it.
“ From the foundation, which lay eight feet below the present surface, quite up to the top of the oldest part, which was in all near ten feet, it was compiled alternately of layers of broad flat bricks and rag-stones.
The bricks lay in double ranges, and each brick being but one inch and three-tenths in thickness, the whole layer, with the mortar, exceeded not three inches.
The layers of stone were not two feet thick of our measure.
It is probable they were intended for two of the Roman, their rule being somewhat shorter than ours.
To this height the workmanship was after the Roman manner; these were the remains of the ancient wall.
In this it was very observable, that the mortar was so very firm and hard, that the stone itself as easily broke.
It was thus far, from the foundation upwards, nine feet in thickness.
The above broad thin bricks were all of Roman make, and of the very sort, we learn from Pliny, that were in common use among the Romans.
On measuring some of these,” says Doctor Woodward, “ I found them seventeen inches and four-tenths in thickness, and eleven inches and six-tenths in breadth.
“The old wall, on its being repaired, was carried up of the same thickness to eight or nine feet in height; or, if higher, there was no more of that work now standing.
All this was apparently additional, and of a make later than the oilier part underneath it, which was levelled and brought to a plane for the raising of this new work upon it.
The outside, or that towards the suburbs, was faced with a coarse sort of stone, not compiled with any great care or skill, nor disposed into a regular method; but, on the inside, there appeared more marks of workmanship and art.
At the bottom were five layers, composed of flint and free-stone; though they were not so in all parts, yet in some the squares were nearly equal, about live inches diameter, and ranged in a quincunx order.
Over these were a layer of brick, then of hewn free-stone, and so alternately brick and stone to the top.
These bricks, of which there were four courses, were of the same shape as those now in use, but much larger, being near eleven inches in length, five in breadth, and somewhat above two and an half in thickness.
Here was not one of the Roman bricks abovementioned in all this part, nor was the mortar here near so hard as in that below; but, from the description, it may be easily collected (hat this part, when hist made, with so various and orderly a disposition of the materials, flint, stone, and brick, could not but carry a very handsome aspect.
Whether this was done at the expence of the barons in the reign of King John, or of the citizens in the reign of King Henry the Third, or of King Richard the Second, or at what other time, I cannot take upon me to ascertain, from accounts so defective and obscure as are those which at this day remain of this affair.
“ Upon the additional work now described, was raised a wall wholly of brick, only that as it terminated in battlements, these were topped with copings of stone.
It was two feet four inches in thickness, and somewhat above eight feet in height.
The bricks of these were of the same module and size with those of the part underneath.
How long they have been in is uncertain.

In this wall there were seven principal gates or entrances to the city it surrounded.
1.
Ludgate, whose name has been generally, but fancifully, derived from King Ludd; or 1 ludgate, as Leland thinks, from the rivulet, afterwards Fleet-ditch, that flowed near it.
This gate was built during the wars of the barons with King John, in the year 1215, when they entered the city and destroyed the houses of the Jews, with whose materials they repaired the walls and built this gate.
2.
Newgate.
It is supposed that there was a gate on this spot during the time of the Romans, as one of the great military ways has been traced near it.
The gate which supplied its place, is supposed by Stow to have been erected between the years 1108 and 1128, when Richard Beauveyes, bishop of London, by enlarging the precincts of Saint Paul’s had obstructed the usual way under Ludgate, and made this new outlet necessary.
Mr.Howel says, that it was originally denominated the Chamberlain-gate.
It had been used as a prison during several ages; and was made a place of confinement for persons of high rank, long before the Tower was applied to that purpose.
In the year 1412 it was rebuilt by the executors of Sir Richard Whittington, the famous Lord mayor of London, out of the effects he had allotted for works of charity; when the statue of that distinguished magistrate, with the cat, was placed in a niche, where it remained till it was destroyed in the dreadful fire of 1666.
It was afterwards rebuilt in its late form.
3.
Aldersgate, so named, according to Camden, from its antiquity, or, in the opinion of others, from Aldric the Saxon.
4.
Cripplegate, so called from an adjoining hospital for cripples.
5.
Moorgate, which derived its title from a neighbouring moor, since called Moorfields.
6.
Bishopsgate, which is supposed to have been first erected by Erkenwald, bishop of London, in the year 675.
Henry the Third confirmed to the Hans merchants certain privileges, for which they were bound not only to maintain this gate, but to defend it also, whenever it should be attacked by an enemy.
By that commercial company it was rebuilt, in a very beautilul manner, in the year 1479: but falling into decay, it was taken down, and an handsome gateway, with posterns for foot passengers, was erected in the year 1735 by the city of London, whose arms and supporters, in stone sculpture, crowned the centre of it.
7.
Aldgate.
Mention is made of this gate so early as the year 967, in the reign of King Edgar, by the name of Ealdgate; and must have been one of the four principal gates, as the Roman road passed under it.
It was rebuilt, in an handsome manner, for that period, in the year 1609 ; and the apartments over it were appropriated to the use of the Lord mayor’s carvers.
“ It is also thought by some,” says Camden, that there were two gates to the river besides that on London bridge, Belinsgate, now a wharf, and Dowrgate, or the Watergate.” There does not appear, however, from any record, to have been a gate at the former place; but at the latter there certainly stood one of the ancient Roman gates, through which was the way for passengers, who took water at the trajectus, or ferry, to the continuation of the military way towards Dover.
It became also a wharf of great custom, and was called the port of Dowgate.
In the reigns of Henry the Third and Edward the Third, customs were paid there by vessels, in the same manner as if they rode at Oueenhithe.

Near Dowgate ran into the Thames the ancient Wallbrook, or river of Wells, mentioned in a charter of William the Conqueror, to the college of Saint Martin’s le Grand.
Some have supposed it to derive its name from passing through London Wall, between Moorgate and Bishopsgate, when, after frequent windings, it at length emptied itself into the Thames near Dowgate:—according to Stow, it was vaulted over between two and three centuries ago, and covered with a street which bears its name.
The channel of it has since been converted into a principal common sewer of the city.
When the Romans retired from Britain, they were succeeded by the Saxons, who, under their leaders Hengist and Horsa, landed in the year 448 in the isle of Thanet.
The Britons, however, remained masters of London at least nine years after that event; for, according to the Saxon Chronicle, they were defeated in the year 457, at Creccanford, now Crayford, and, being obliged to evacuate Rent, fled with great fear to the capital.
In the year G04, it seems to have recovered from the ravages of invaders, and became the chief town of the kingdom of Essex.
Sebert was the first Christian king; and his maternal uncle, Ethelbert King of Kent, founded here a church, dedicated to Saint Paul.
At this time, on the authority of venerable Bede, it was an emporium of many nations, who resorted thither.
The renowned King Alfred made London, or to use the Saxon name, Londenburg, the capital of all England.
The succeeding ravages of the Danes reduced London and its commerce to a very low ebb : yet it seems, in some measure, to have recovered itself before the arrival of William the Norman.
History is very obscure with respect to the government of the city, not only during the Saxon heptarchy, but even at the period of the Conquest.
All the knowledge we possess on the subject is from the Saxon charters, wherein it is mentioned that London was governed by a portgrave, or portreve, which means the guardian of the port.
It is probable also that the bishop of London and the portgrave were united in the government; as in the charters granted by Edward the Confessor they are mentioned together; as William the bishop, and Swerman, my portgrave.
William the Conqueror also, in the brief charter which he granted to the city of London, addresses himself to William the bishop, and Godfrey the portreve, and all the burgesses.
Some writers have represented London as being in a very low condition at the time of the Conquest; but this opinion is by no means supported by the conduct of its inhabitants at that period: for though they did not succeed in the sally they made on William when he besieged London, the very attempt proves that they were in some state of force and defence: and, even after they had submitted to him, he proved his apprehensions of their strength, by building the strong fortress of the Tower, to secure, or rather to command, their allegiance.
In seventy years after that event, we are informed, by an historian who lived at the time, that London mustered sixty thousand foot, and twenty thousand horse.
If this statement should be correct, London must have been very powerful at the time of the Conquest; as the reigns between William the First and Stephen, when this account was given, were not calculated for any great increase in population.
Some writers have been of opinion, that in this army the militia of the neighbouring counties must have been included, and that London was the general place of their assembling: and another historian of that period, Peter de Blois, archdeacon of London, who at that time resided in the capital, states the number of inhabitants at no more than forty thousand.
William the Conqueror granted a second charter to the city of London: but the citizens obtained another from Henry the First, by which they not only received a confirmation of their ancient customs and immunities, but, on paying a quit-rent of three hundred pounds a year, had the county of Middlesex added to their jurisdiction, with a power of appointing a justiciary and a sheriff from among themselves.
This extent of jurisdiction was granted to prevent that county from being any longer an asylum for fraudulent persons, who, having deserted London with the goods and effects of their creditors, lived there in open defiance of those whom they had defrauded.
By this charter, the citizens were allowed the privilege of not being compelled to plead without the walls of the city, and were also excused from paying scot, lot, and Danegelt; duties payable to the king by all his other subjects.
The city was not to be amerced for the escape of a murderer; nor any citizen, when accused of a crime, be obliged to vindicate his innocence by a duel.
The Londoners were exempted from paying a toll in fairs or markets in any part of the kingdom: and if any was exacted, they might make reprisals in their own city, upon the inhabitants of the town where it was exacted, etc.
Before the grant of this charter London seems to have been subject to the arbitrary will of the king.
But the liberties of the citizens being now guarded by so strong a fence, they endeavoured to secure their customs, by converting them into written laws; and the several bodies, professing the arts and mysteries of trade and manufacture, which had hitherto been kept up by prescription only, were now strengthened, by being formed into companies, and ac- quiring a corporate capacity.
The king, however, reserved to himself the power of appointing the portreve,or chief officer of the city.
On the death of Henry the First, the citizens of London assisted King Stephen in his endeavours to obtain the crown; and in the year 1135 received him into their city ; but the next year a dreadful fire laid the greatest part of the city in ashes: for, according to Stow, it began near London-stone, and consumed all the buildings east to Aldgate, and west to Saint Erkenwald’s shrine in Saint Paul s cathedral; both of which it destroyed, together with London bridge, which at that time was a wooden structure.
In the year 1139, the citizens purchased of King Stephen, for an hundred marks of silver, the right of choosing their own sheriffs; but that prince being soon after defeated and taken prisoner by the Empress Maud, the daughter of Henry the First, she resolved to be revenged on the citizens, for the assistance they had given to that usurper; and therefore, entering into a convention with Geoffrey Earl of Essex, she granted him all the possessions and places, which either his grandfather, father, or himself had held of the crown; among which were the sheriffwicks of London and Middlesex, and also the office of justiciary of the city and county; so that no person could hold pleas in either, without his permission.
This compact was executed with the greatest solemnity; and thus the citizens were divested of some of their most valuable privileges.
The citizens soon after, in the most humble manner, entreated Maud to re-establish the laws of Edward the Confessor, which had been confirmed to them by the charter of William the First, and to ease them of their insupportable taxes: but, instead of granting them these requests, she dismissed the petitioners from her presence with the utmost disdain, assuring them at the same time, that since they had been friends to her enemy, they had nothing to expect from her friendship.
Irritated, and indeed almost desperate, from the treatment of this imperious princess, and apprehending the most disastrous consequences from her power, they determined to put an end to it, if possible, by seizing her person; she, however, contrived to make her escape, and left her palace to be plundered by the populace: but soon after this event, Stephen was restored, and she was compelled to quit the kingdom.
In the year 1159, Henry the Second granted the citizens of London a charter, which not only confirmed that of Henry the First, and restored them to the state in which they were before the grant made by Queen Maud to Geoffrey Earl of Essex, but bestowed many other franchises, which relieved them from the oppressions they had, for some time, suffered.
In the year 1197, King Richard increased the jurisdiction of his loyal city of London by a charter, which empowered the citizens of London to remove all weirs out of the river Thames; and resigned, at the same time, all his rights and pretensions to the annual duties arising thereby, and usually paid to his officers of the Tower of London, which, as it so materially relates to the subject of our history, we shall recite at large.
“ Richard, by the grace of God, King of England, etc.
to all his faithful subjects, etc.
greeting: Know ye all, that we, for the health of our soul, and for the soul's health of our father, and all our ancestors’ souls, and also for the commonweal of our city of London, and of all our realm, have granted and stedfastly commanded, that all weirs that are in the Thames be removed, wheresoever they shall be within the Thames: and that no weirs be put any where within the Thames: also we have quit-claimed all that which the keeper of our Tower of London was wont yearly to receive of the said weirs.
Wherefore we will and stedfastly command, that no keeper of the said Tower, at any time hereafter, shall exact any thing of any one, neither molest or burthen, or demand make of any person, by reason of the said weirs.
For it is manifest to us, and by our right reverend Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, and other our faithful subjects, it is sufficiently given us to understand, that great detriment and discommodity hath grown to our said city of London, and also to the whole realm, by occasion of the weirs; which thing, to the intent it may continue for ever firm and stable, we do fortify by the inscription of the present page, and the putting to of our seal: there being witnesses,
John of Worcester, ... etc.
In the succeeding reign of King John, the citizens obtained several charters, by which their former privileges were confirmed ; and, in the year 1207 Henry Fitzwarren received the title of Mayor, instead of custos, or bailiff, which he had before enjoyed.
In the reign of Henry the Third, they were in a state of continual oppression from that monarch; till at length he restored their privileges and municipal government.
At this time also, the forest of Middlesex being disforested, the citizens of London purchased the adjoining lands, and, by building houses on them, greatly increased the suburbs of their city.
In the succeeding reign, the city of London was divided into twenty-four wards, each of which was subjected to the jurisdiction of a magistrate, with the name of alderman, or aelder-man, a very ancient Saxon title, meaning a person advanced in years.
The city also obtained an extension of its rights, by two charters granted them in the year 1327, by Edward the Third; and it was from this prince that the corporation received the royal privilege of having gold or silver maces carried before their chief magistrate.
From this time, when the king conferred on the chief magistrate of London an honour that was interdicted, by special precept, to all other corporations in the kingdom, the addition of lord, may be reasonably dated ; a title that the mayor of London still enjoys; and of which no better origin has been hitherto discovered.
Thus have we given somewhat of a general outline of the history of London, from its origin to the period when it assumed that form of municipal government, which, with little variation, it still maintains, and will now become the subject of our consideration.
The government of the city may be divided into wards and precincts, under a Lord mayor, aldermen, and common-council; and may be said to resemble the legislative power of the nation.
The mayor, aldermen, and common-councilmen, making laws for, and governing, the city of London, as the king, Lords, and commons, preside over, govern, and make laws for the whole nation.
The Lord mayor is the supreme magistrate of London, chosen annually by the citizens, pursuant to a charter of King John.
His jurisdiction extends over the city and suburbs : it extends also from Colney ditch, above Stanes bridge in the west, to Yendale or Yen- flete, and the mouth of the river Medway, and up that river to Upnor castle, in the east: by which he exercises the power of punishing or correcting all persons that shall annoy the stiearns, banks, or fish.
For which purpose Ins Lordship holds several courts of conservancy in the counties adjacent to the said river, for its conservation and the punishment of offenders.
While we pass over a minute description of the other different powers with which this great officer is invested, it seems to he required that we should enter into a detail concerning the nature, extent, and operation of his jurisdiction, as it relates to the conservation of the Thames.
The courts of conservancy are held at such times and places as the Lord mayor shall appoint, within the respective counties of Middlesex, Essex, Kent, and Surrey ; in which several counties he has the power of summoning juries, who, for the better preservation of the fishery of the river Thames, and the regulation of fishermen who fish therein, are to make inquisition upon oath of all offences committed in and upon the said river, from Stanes bridge in the west to Yenflete in the east; and to present all persons that are found guilty of a breach of the following ordinances.
First, That no person shall shoot any draw-net, etc.at any time of the year, before sunrising or after sunsetting; that no fisherman shall still-lie, or bend over any net during the time of the flood, whereby salmons, etc may be hindered and kept back from swimming upwards; that no fisherman, or others, shall use any spear, called an eel-spear, nor exercise any flue-trammel, double-walled net, or hooped net, to destroy the fry of fish ; that no fisherman use any mill-pots, or other engines, with the heads thereof against the stream; that no fisherman shall rug for flounders between London bridge and Westminster, etc but only two casts at low water, and two casts at high water; and that no flounder be taken under the size of six inches; that no fisherman, or other, fish with or use any angle with more than two hooks upon a line, within the limits of London bridge ; that no Peter-man fish further west than Richmond, to which place the water ebbs and flows; that no fisherman keep two boys in one boat, unless one be verging to man’s estate; nor take up any drift wreck upon the water, without notice to the water-bailiff, etc.; and all fishermen shall be registered, etc under divers penalties and forfeitures.
These orders are for regulating the fish westward, between London bridge and Stanes bridge; and there are several orders for the government of the fishery eastward, between London and Yendale, touching unlawful taking of smelts, whitings, shads, fish out of season, royal fish; such as whales, sturgeons, porpuses, etc and presenting the same, at the court of conservancy of the river Thames.
By an order dated the tenth of July, 1673, no person shall draw the shores in the river of Thames, save onfy for salmon, by persons empowered, etc; and none shall fish with a net under six inches in the mesh, on pain of twenty pounds; and the water-bailiff hath power to authorize two honest fishermen in any town, etc to be assistant to him in searching for and seizing unlawful nets, etc; no fisherman or other person shall cast any soil, gravel, or rubbish, in the Thames, whereby banks or shelves are raised, and the common passage hindered; nor drive any piles or stakes in the said river, upon which the like danger may arise, on the penalty of ten pounds.
And by a statute of the twenty-seventh year of Henry the Eighth, if any person shall procure any thing to be done to the annoyance of the Thames, in making of shelves, mining, digging, etc or take away any boards or stakes, undermine banks, walls, etc he shall forfeit five pounds.
And for the more effectual preservation of the navigation and fish in the river Thames, the Lord mayor, as conservator thereof, has his assistant or deputy, the water-bailiff; whose office it is, together with his substitutes, to detect and bung to justice all such persons as shall presume to destroy either the current, or the fish of the said river, etc.
Thus have we given a general idea of those laws which have been made at different periods for preserving the fisheries of this river, without entering into a detail of the various regulations which have been made in later times, to advance an object of such utility to the inhabitants of its banks,— whether in the village, the town, or metropolitan city.
The second part of the city legislature consists of the aldermen, when assembled in their corporate capacity, who exercise an executive power in their respective wards; where they keep their wardmotes, or courts, for choosing ward officers, as well as for redressing grievances, and presenting all defaults found within their respective jurisdictions.
The title of alderman, as has been already observed, is of Saxon origin, and of the greatest honour, answering to that of earl; though it is nowhere to be found, in our day, but in chartered societies.
Nor can we omit the observation, that the aldermen and commonalty of London, on their first regular establishment, were honoured with the style and title of barons.
The aldermen are the subordinate governors of their respective wards, under the Lord mayor’s jurisdiction: and they originally held their aldermanries either by inheritance or purchase ; at which time these aldermanries, or wards, changed their names with every new magistrate or alderman.
The oppressions, however, to which the citizens were subject from such a government, put them upon means to abolish the perpetuity of that office; and they brought it to an annual election.
But that mode of proceeding being attended with many inconveniences, and becoming a continual source of contention among the citizens, the parliament, in the seventeenth year of Richard the Second, 1394, enacted that the aldermen of London should continue in their several offices during life, or good behaviour; and thus it continues at this day.
The next branch of legislative power in the city of London is the common-council.—The many inconveniences resulting from the popular assemblies, which were called folk-niote , determined the commonalty of London to choose representatives to act in their name, and for their interest, with the Lord mayor and aldermen, in all affairs relating to the city.
These representatives were originally chosen from the several companies; but that mode of election not proving satisfactory, as it did not proceed from the whole body of inhabitants; they were afterwards chosen by the respective wards which comprehend the citizens at large.
The number of the common-council has occasionally increased according to the dimensions of each ward; and at present the twenty-five wards, into which London is divided, being subdivided into two hundred and thirty- six precincts, each precinct sends a representative to the common- council, who is annually elected at the respective wardmotes.
Thus the Lord mayor, aldermen, and common-council, when assembled, may be considered as the parliament of the city; who have a power to make and repeal bye-laws; to which the citizens are bound to yield submission and obedience.
They are assisted also by two sheriffs and a recorder.
The sheriffs are chartered officers, to perform certain suits and service, in the king's name, within the city of London and county of Middlesex, and are chosen by the liverymen of the several companies on midsummer-day.
Their office, according to Camden, is, in general, to collect the public revenues; by which he may be supposed to mean the king’s rents, within their several jurisdictions; to gather into the exchequer all fines belonging to the crown; to serve the king’s writs of process; to attend the judges, and execute their orders; to impannel juries; to compel headstrong and obstinate men, by the posse comitatus, to submit to the decisions of the law; to take care that all condemned criminals be duly punished and executed.
In London, they are also bound to execute the orders of the court of common-council, when it is resolved to address the throne, or petition parliament.
They also preside and are returning officers at all elections by the livery of London.
There is no account of a recorder of London till the year 1104 , an officer whose duty it is to assist the lord mayor in the execution of his high charge, and to advise him in whatever relates to the laws and customs of the city.
He is elected by the lord mayor and court of aldermen, and takes place immediately after those magistrates who have passed the chair.
In the books of the city chamber, we have the following description of this high judicial officer.
" He shall be, and is wont to be, one of the most skilful and virtuous apprentices of the law of the whole kingdom ; whose office is always to sit on the right hand of the mayor, in recording pleas and passing judgments; and by whom records and processes had before the lord mayor and aldermen, etc ought to be recorded by word of mouth, etc
The mayor and aldermen have, therefore, used commonly to set forth all other businesses, touching the city, before the king and his council, as also in certain of the king’s courts, by Mr.Recorder, as a chief man, endued with wisdom, and eminent for eloquence.
The next chartered officer of this corporation is the chamberlain: an officer of great trust, who is annually chosen by the livery on midsummer-day; but is seldom displaced during his life, unless he has been guilty of some breach of the extraordinary confidence reposed in him.
His office may be considered as the public treasury of the city, as all the customs, fines, yearly rents, and revenues, as well as all other payments or monies due or belonging to the corporation are paid into it, and entrusted to his care.
He has also the keeping of the monies, lands, and goods of the city orphans, or takes good security for the payment thereof when the parties come of age : to that end the chamberlain is deemed in law a sole corporation, and, consequently, any bond made to him and his successors, is recoverable by his successors.
He also holds a court for inrolling and turning over apprentices; to admit all persons duly qualified into the freedom of the city; and to decide all differences that arise between masters and their apprentices.
There are many other officers which are necessary to preside in the courts, to carry on the business, as well as to add to the dignity, of this great city; an enumeration of whose duties is neither necessary to the character, or compatible with the nature, of this work.
There are also two subordinate governments, or jurisdictions, in tbe city of London.
One of them is executed by the alderman, deputy, and common-councilmen, with their inferior officers in each ward, at the court called a wardmote: every ward, therefore, has a separate jurisdiction of its own ; but ultimately subject to the lord mayor as the chief metropolitan magistrate; and the housekeepers within it elect their representatives, the alderman and common-council, who form the legislature of the city.
The other of these jurisdictions is exercised by the master, wardens, and court of assistants, of the companies of tbe different incorporated trades of the city; whose power, however, extends no further than over the members of their respective guilds and fraternities; except that in the general body of them, called the livery of London, is invested the power to choose representatives in parliament for the city, and all the magistrates and public officers which are elected by a common hall.
These companies, though subject to certain general laws, are invested with distinct powers, according to the tenor of their respective charters.
The city is divided into twenty-six wards, and eighty-nine companies.
The wards have the several titles of Aldersgate, Aldgate, Bassishaw, Billingsgate, Bishopsgate, Bridge-within, Bread-street, Candlewick, Castle Baynard, Cheap, Coleman-street, Cordwainer, Cornhill, Cripplegate, Dowgate, Farringdon-within, Farringdon-without, Langbourn, Lime-street, Portsoken, Queenhithe, Tower, Vintry, Walbrook, and the nominal ward of Bridge-without.
The companies, or guilds, may be considered as the basis of that trade which has not only made London, but England, great, and are as follows.
Mercers, grocers, drapers, fishmongers, goldsmiths, skinners, merchant-taifors, haberdashers, salters, ironmongers, vintners, clothworkers, apothecaries, armourers, bakers, barber-surgeons, surgeons, basket-makers, blacksmiths, bowyers, brewers, broiderers, butchers, card-makers, carmen, carpenters, clock-makers, coach-makers, comb-makers, cooks, coopers, cordwainers, curriers, cutlers, distillers, dyers, fan-makers, furriers, felt-makers, fishermen, fletchers, founders, framework-knitters, fruiterers, gardeners, girdlers, glaziers, glass-sellers, glovers, gold and silver wire-drawers, gunsmiths, hatband-makers, horners, innholders, joiners, leather-sellers, long bowstring-makers, foriners, masons, musicians, needle-makers, painters-stainers, parish clerks, patten-makers, paviors, pewterers, pin-makers, plasterers, plumbers, porters, poulterers, saddlers, scriveners, shipwrights, silkmen, silk-throwers, soap-makers, spectacle-makers, starch-makers, stationers, tallow-chandlers, tin-plate-workers, tobacco-pipe-makers, turners, tilers and bricklayers, upholders, and watermen.
Fifty-two of these companies have halls for transacting the business, and holding the feasts of their respective corporations : some of them are very handsome and spacious edifices, with large gardens, which contribute to the grandeur of the metropolis.
Besides the incorporated companies of the citizens of London in their several arts and mysteries, there are incorporated societies of merchants, which may be said not only to have advanced, but, in a great measure, to have created, the foreign commerce of this country.
Of these the Hamburgh company is the most ancient, and was originally styled the Merchants of the Staple, and afterwards merchant adventurers.
It was incorporated by Edward the First, in the year 1296, and had the staple or mart for the Low Countries.
Several succeeding sovereigns enlarged its privileges; and Queen Elizabeth empowered the company to treat with the princes and states of Germany, for a proper staple, or mart, of the English woollen manufactures, which was at length fixed at Hamburgh, from whence they obtained the name of the Hamburgh company.
But its exclusive privileges having been laid open in the reign of William the Third, the advantages which this society formerly derived from its incorporation are, in a great measure, at an end.
The Hudson’s Bay company was not incorporated till the year 1670, though the country to which its commerce is directed had been discovered by Sebastian Cabot in the year 1497.
The Russia company was first incorporated by letters patent of Oueen Mary, dated the sixth of February, 1555, which were granted to divers noblemen and merchants, whereby they were enabled to carry on an exclusive trade to all parts of the Russian empire; and likewise to all such countries as they should discover in those northern parts, etc. etc.
The Levant, or Turkey company, was incorporated by Queen Elizabeth in the year 1579, who endowed the same with many privileges, which were confirmed and augmented by James the First.
This company was empowered to trade to the Levant, and particularly to Smyrna, Aleppo, Constantinople, Cyprus, Grand Cairo, Alexandria, and in general to all the eastern parts of the Mediterranean.
The East India company was first incorporated by Queen Elizabeth in the year 1601.
and a commerce was established by it to a considerable part of the Oriental world; but, in the beginning of the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, it being imagined that the laying open the trade to the East Indies would produce great advantage to the nation at large, that commerce was made general, and continued free from all incorporate restriction til the year 1657 : but the separate trade proving fatal to the undertakers, they were, for their common benefit, united by an act of the legislature; and have ever since been styled the United Company of Merchants trading to the East Indies.
The African company was incorporated by Queen Elizabeth, for the purpose of carrying on a trade to Guinea.
It was reincorporated by Charles the Second in the year 1672, with an exclusive power to trade all along the western coast of Africa to the Cape of Good Hope.
The South Sea company was established by act of parliament, in the ninth year of Queen Anne, for paying off a debt of upwards of nine millions due from government, and not provided for by parliament.
It was empowered to carry on a trade to the South Sea, and, in the year 1714, the capital was enlarged to ten millions.
The city of London being a county corporate, and a lieutenancy of itself, the power of Lord lieutenant is vested in the lord mayor, aldermen, and other principal citizens, who receive their commission from the king.
The city militia, or trained bands, as they have been generally called, were divided into six regiments, which composed a body of upwards of eight thousand men.
But while this page is hastening to the press, a bill is under the consideration of parliament, to give the city militia a new and more effective character.
The ecclesiastical government of the metropolis is vested in a bishop, who takes place on the bench immediately after the archbishops, and whose diocese not only comprehends Middlesex, Essex, and part of Hertfordshire, but, in some instances, the British plantations in America.
Before the great fire of the last century, whose horrid conflagration destroyed so large a portion of the city of London.
there were within its walls and liberties an hundred and fourteen parish churches, exclusive of those in the city of Westminster: they are now, however, reduced to the number of sixty-two; but are fully adequate to the public national worship of the city which they enrich and adorn.
Having given a brief history of the city of London, with some account of its municipal constitution, we shall now proceed to mention the buildings that decorate it; many of which add so much to the beauty and magnificence of its appearance, when beheld from the river that reflects them.
The first of these is the cathedral of Saint Paul.
The opinion that it was originally built on the site of a temple erected by the Romans to Diana, is very justly exploded by its great restorer Sir Christopher Wren; and his son, in his Parentalia, has given a different account of the origin of the ancient edifice.
We are there informed, that the first cathedral of the episcopal see of London was built in the area of a Roman pretorian camp, and that all the succeeding fabrics have been erected on the same spot; but that this structure was demolished during the general persecution under the Emperor Dioclesian.
This persecution, however, was of short duration, and the church is supposed to have been rebuilt in the reign of Constantine.
It was again destroyed by the Pagan Saxons, and restored in the year 603 by Sebert, a petty prince, ruling in these parts, under Ethelbert, King of Kent, the first Christian monarch of the Saxon race; who appointed Melitus the first bishop of London.
In the year 675, Erkenwald, the son of King Offa, the fourth in succession from Melitus, not only beautified the ancient edifice, but improved the revenues by his own patrimony.
It was, however, destroyed by fire in the year 961, but was immediately rebuilt.
When the city of London suffered by a conflagration in the year 1086.
this church was burned; and Bishop Mauritius having determined to rebuild it in a very sumptuous and magnificent manner, obtained of the king the stones of an ancient castle in the neighbourhood, called the Palatine tower, a kind of fort that stood at the entrance of the Fleet river, and which had been demolished by the same fire.
This prelate accordingly began the building, a fourth time, on the ancient foundations, which, after various additions, continued to the last general conflagration of the city in the year 1666.
But, notwithstanding the length ot time employed in building this church, and the great expence bestowed on this fabric, it was not thought to he sufficiently magnificent: the steeple therefore was rebuilt about the year 1221; and Roger Niger being promoted to the see of London in 1229, prosecuted the work with great vigour; and having completed the choir in 1240, the church was re-consecrated in the same year, with great solemnity, in the presence of the king, the pope’s legate, and many lords spiritual and temporal.
The spacious and magnificent edifice of Saint Paul's cathedral being thus finished, a survey was taken of it, by which its dimensions appear to have been in the following proportions.
The length of the body of the church was six hundred and ninety feet, and the breadth one hundred and thirty.
The height of the west part within, one hundred and two feet, that of the choir eighty-eight, and that of the body of the church one hundred and fifty feet.
The height of the tower from the ground was two hundred and sixty feet, from whence rose a spire, whose height was two hundred and seventy-four feet, on the top of which was a ball nine feet in circumference, crowned with a cross fifteen feet in length, with a traverse of six feet.
The whole space which, according to Dugdale, the church occupied, contained three acres and an half, one rood and an half, and six perches.
Of the magnificence of this metropolitan church, some idea may be formed from the ground on which it stood; and its interior decorations are said to have borne a full proportion to its exterior grandeur.
Its high altar was enriched with precious stones; and the shrine of Saint Erkenwald, though adorned with gold and silver, and jewels, did not satisfy the splendid devotion of the dean and chapter, who, in the year 1339, retained three goldsmiths of London to work upon it during a whole year; at the end of which, in the language of Dugdale, its lustre was so great, that princes, nobles, ambassadors, and other foreigners of high rank and distinction, flocked from all parts to visit it, and to offer their oblations before it.
The subterraneous church of Saint Faith was begun in the year 1257.
It was supported by three rows of massy clustered pillars, with ribs diverging from them to support the roof.
It was the parish church, and contained several chanteries and monuments.
We shall pass over the various accidents which befel this cathedral till the year 1561, when its noble spire was destroyed by lightning ; or, according to Doctor Heylin, by the negligence of a workman, who confessed on his deathbed, that it was occasioned by leaving a pan of coals in the steeple.
In consequence of the resolutions taken in the year 1620 to repair this church, Inigo Jones was appointed to that work: but it was not begun till 1633 ; when Archbishop Laud, who was very active in promoting the advancement of this undertaking, laid the first, and Inigo Jones the fourth, stone.
This great work was prosecuted with such diligence by that pre-eminent architect, that, in the course of nine years, the whole was finished, both within and without, except the steeple; and the civil war put an end to the completion of it.
The revenues of the church were now seized, the famous pulpit cross in the churchyard was dilapidated; the scaffolding of the steeple was assigned by parliament for the payment of arrears due to the army; the body of the church was converted into saw-pits; part of the south cross was suffered to tumbledown; the west part of the church was converted into a stable, and the beautiful but misplaced Corinthian portico was the receptacle of shops, with lodging rooms over them; at the erection of which, Doctor Heylin observes, that the magnificent columns were piteously mangled, being obliged to make way for the ends of beams, which penetrated their centres.
At the Restoration, however, a new commission was procured for its immediate reparation, and large sums of money were raised by voluntary contribution for that purpose; but before any thing material could be accomplished, the dreadful fire of London reduced the whole edifice almost to an heap of ruins, and gave an opportunity for the magnificent restoration of it by Sir Christopher Wren.
Two years, however, were employed in a vain endeavour to fit up some part of the old fabric for divine worship, when it was found to be incapable of any substantial repair.
It was, therefore, determined to raze the foundations of the old building, and to erect on the same spot a new cathedral, that should exceed in splendour the former structure: letters patent were accordingly granted to several lords spiritual and temporal, authorizing them to proceed in the work, and appointing Doctor, afterwards Sir Christopher Wren, surveyor general of all his majesty’s works, to prepare a model.
So anxious were the inhabitants of London, and other pious persons, for the completion of this great work, that, within ten years, one hundred and twenty-six thousand pounds, an enormous sum for that period, were paid into the chamber of London; and a new duty was laid on coals, for the prosecution of this undertaking.
Sir Christopher Wren accordingly made a model in wood of the church he proposed to erect, in a style conformable to the principles of Greek and Roman architecture; but the bishops objecting to it, as deviating too much from the form in which cathedrals were built, he at length produced the design which was adopted.
The first, however, which was confined to the Corinthian order, was, as is observed by the writer of his life, the favourite of our great architect, and which he abandoned with uncommon regret in favour of that he afterwards completed.
The first stone of this superb and stupendous structure was laid on the twenty-first day of June, 1675, and was finished in the year 1710; though the decorations were not entirely completed till the year 1723.
It is a very remarkable circumstance, that although this church was thirty-five years in building, it was begun and finished by one architect, and under one prelate, Henry Compton, bishop of London.
It has also been asserted, that the same stonemason, whose name was Strong, beheld the laying the first and placing the last stone.
The church of Saint Peter’s at Rome was an hundred and thirty-five years in its completion, occupied the reigns of nineteen popes, and employed the genius of twelve architects.
The general form of Saint Paid’s cathedral is a long cross: the walls are wrought in rustic, and strengthened as well as adorned by two ranges of coupled pilasters; the lower ones Corinthian, and the upper composite.
The spaces between the arches of the windows and the architrave of the orders are filled with various enrichments.
The west front is graced with a magnificent portico, a noble pediment, and two stately turrets.
At this end there is a grand flight of steps of black marble, that extend the whole length of the portico, which consists of twelve lofty Corinthian columns below, and eight of the composite order above: these are all coupled and fluted.
The upper series supports a noble pediment crowned with its acroteria.
In this pediment is a representation, in basso-relievo, of the conversion of Saint Paul, which was executed by Bird, an artist of considerable reputation in his day.
The statue of Saint Paul stands on the apex of the pediment, with Saint Peter on the right side of it, and Saint James on the left.
The four evangelists.
with their proper emblems, are employed to enrich the fronts of the towers.
To the north portico there is an ascent by twelve circular steps of black marble; and its dome is supported by six large Corinthian columns, forty-eight inches in diameter.
In the centre of the dome is a large urn, ornamented with festoons, and over this is a pediment supported by pilasters in the wall, in the face of which are the royal arms, with the appropriate regalia, supported by angels.
The pediment, which rises above the whole, is also decorated with statues of the apostles.
The south portico, which is directly opposite to the north, consists also of a dome supported by Corinthian columns; but as the ground is considerably lower on this, than the other side of the church, the ascent is by a larger and different flight of steps.
In the pediment, which is also crowned with apostolic figures, is the symbolical representation of a phoenix rising from the flames.
The east end of the church consists of a sweep, or circular projection for the altar, enriched with the orders, and their decorations.
The dome, which rises in the centre of the building, is a very rare example of architectural magnificence.
Twenty feet above the roof of the church is a circular range of thirty-two columns, with niches placed exactly against others within.
These are terminated by their entablature, which supports a gallery, with a balustrade.
Above these columns is a range of pilasters with windows between; and from the entablature of these the diameter very considerably decreases, and two feet higher is again contracted.
From this part the external sweep of the dome begins, and the arches meet at fifty-two feet above.
On the summit of the dome is an elegant balcony, from whose centre springs the lantern, adorned with Corinthian columns.
The whole is terminated by a ball crowned by a cross, both of which are double gilt.
The following account of the dimensions of this magnificent building will conclude our account of it.
FEET:
The whole length of the church and portico - 500
The breadth within the doors of the porticoes - 250
The breadth of the front, with the turrets - 180
The breadth of the front, without the turrets - 110
The breadth of the church and three naves - 150
The breadth of the church and widest chapels - 180
The length of the porch within - - 50
The breadth of the porch within - - 20
The length of the platea at the upper steps - 180
The breadth of the nave at the door - - 40
The breadth of the nave at the third pillar and tribune 40
The breadth of the side ailes - - - 17
The distance between the pillars of the nave - 25
The breadth of those pillars - - - 10
The two right sides of the great pilasters of the cupola 25-35
The distance between the same pilasters - - 40
The outward diameter of the cupola - - 145
The inward diameter of the same - - 100
From the door within the cupola - - 190
From the cupola to the end of the tribune - - 170
The breadth of each of the turrets - - 35
The outward diameter of the lantern - - 28
The whole space upon which one pillar stands - - 875
The whole space upon which all the pillars stand - - 7000
The height from the ground to the top of the cross - - 340
The height of the turrets - - 222
To the top of the highest statues on the front - - 135
The first pillars of the Corinthian order - - 33
The breadth of them - - 4
Their basis and pedestals - - 13
Their capitals - - 5
The architrave, frieze, and cornice - - 10
The composite pillars - - 25
The ornaments of those pillars above and below - - 16
The triangle of the mezzo-relievo, with its cornice - - 15
Wide - - - - -74
The basis of the cupola to the pedestals of the pillars 38
The pillars of the cupola - - - 28
The basis and pedestals ...5
Their capitals, architrave, frieze, and cornice - 12
From the cornice to the outward slope of the cupola 40
The lantern, from the cupola to the ball - 50
The ball in diameter - - - 6
The cross, with its ornaments below - - 6
The statues upon the front, with their pedestals 15
The outward slope of the cupola - - - 50
Cupola and lantern, from the cornice of the front to the top of the cross - - - 240
The height of the niches in the front - - 14
Wide ...5
The first windows in the front - - 13
Wide - .7
The whole expence of erecting this magnificent and beautiful structure amounted to seven hundred and thirty-six thousand seven hundred and fifty-two pounds two shillings and sixpence.

This church, which, in some respects, is superior to that of Saint Peter s at Rome, is the only work of equal magnitude that was ever completed by one man.
Sir Christopher Wren was not only the greatest geometrical and mathematical architect that ever existed, but possessed, as several of his buildings prove, a great extent of invention, and a taste replete with elegance.
The faults which rigid criticism has attributed to this structure cannot be, with justice, imputed to him, but to the circumstances which influenced and constrained his genius: as it is well known that, from the first design to the conclusion of it, he was continually thwarted, and checked in his views and wishes concerning this stupendous fabric, which, after all, is the pride of his country, and has ranked him among the first men that have adorned the world.
This church, which is such a superb monument to his fame, contains his ashes.
They repose beneath a plain stone, in the vast vault of the fabric, where, on the wall above it, is an inscription far more worthy of the great architect than the obscure spot of his sepulture.

Subtus conditur
Hujus ecclesia et urbis conditor,
Christopherus Wren;
Qui vixit annos ultra nonaginta,
Non sibi, sed bono publico:
Lector , si monumentum requiris,
Circumspice !

Buried below
The founder of this church and city,
Christopher Wren;
Who lived more than ninety years,
Not for himself, but for the public good:
Reader, if you need to see a monument to him,
Look around !

It may also gratify curiosity to inform it, that the following churches of the city of London were rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren.
All-Hallows the Great; All-Hallows, Bread-street; All- Hallows, Lombard-street; Saint Alban’s, Wood-street; Saint Anne and Saint Agnes; Saint Andrew’s, Wardrobe; Saint Andrew’s, Holborn; Saint Antholin’s; Saint Austin’s; Saint Bennet, Grace- church; Saint Bennet, Paul’s Wharf; Saint Bennet Fink; Saint Bride’s; Saint Bartholomew’s; Ghrist-church; Saint Clements, Eastcheap; Saint Clement’s Danes; Saint Dionis, Back-church; Saint Edmund the Ling; Saint George, Botolph-lane; Saint James, Garlick-hill; Saint James, Westminster; Saint Lawrence, Jewry; Saint Michael, Basinghall; Saint Michael Royal; Saint Michael, Queenhithe; Saint Michael, Wood-street; Saint Michael, Crooked- lane; Saint Martin’s, Ludgate; Saint Matthew, Friday-street; Saint Michael, Cornhill; Saint Margaret, Lothbury; Saint Margaret Pattens; Saint Mary, Abchurch : Saint Mary Magdalen; Saint Mary, Somerset; Saint Mary at Hill; Saint Mary, Aldermanbury; Saint Mary le Bow; Saint Nicholas, Cole abbey; Saint Olave’s, Jewry; Saint Peter’s, Cornhill; Saint Swithin’s, Cannon-street; Saint Stephen’s, Wallbrook; Saint Stephen’s, Coleman-street; Saint Mildred, Bread-street; Saint Magnus, London bridge; Saint Vedast, ahas Foster church; Saint Mildred, Poultry; Saint Dunstan’s in the East, and several others that were repaired by the same architect.
These structures, in all of which, as well as the cathedral of Saint Paul and Westminster abbey, he seems to have been very much limited and restrained.
compose, together with the monument and customhouse, the works of one man, in the same city, in the course of forty years: and had his genius and professional skill been suffered to exert themselves in perfecting his ideas, in rebuilding the city after the great conflagration, it would have offered a very different scene of magnificence.
beauty, and commodiousness, than it at present exhibits.

Of the other buildings, which are considered as distinguishing features in the external appearance of the metropolis, we can afford but a very short account.
The Royal Exchange, which may be considered as the throne of British commerce, is a magnificent structure, and admirably suited to its purpose.
The Bank of England must rather be estimated for the number and convenience of its offices, than for their splendour; though parts of it are not without architectural beauty, and elegant decoration.
The Mansion-house of the lord mayor is an huge pile, without internal convenience or exterior beauty; but, as it were, to console the lovers of architecture, the church of Saint Stephen’s Wallbrook stands beside it, the work of Sir Christopher Wren, and one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
Guildhall was erected in the commencement of the fifteenth century, to supply the place of the old hall in Aldermanbury, which was gone to decay.
It suffered very much by the great fire of London in the year 1666 , and was afterwards rebuilt as it stood, till improved by the late alterations.
The great hall, where the livery of London assemble to transact public business, is an hundred and fifty-three feet in length, forty-eight in breadth, and fifty-five in height.
It contains also several public courts for the administration of justice, with council chambers, and apartments for the different officers presiding over the various departments of municipal administration.
This structure has the advantage of being placed in a situation which is possessed by no other public edifice in the city: its late front, however, was so full of little parts, that they produced no effect at any distance from it.
That, however, has been lately taken down, and a very fine facade has been erected, after a design of George Dance, Esquire, the architect of the city, which affords a very noble termination to the street that leads to it, and is a great addition to the architectural splendour of London.
Newgate is the design of the same architect, and were it his only work, would give him a professional immortality.
It is perhaps the finest example of appropriate architecture in Europe.
The external face of this edifice offers a lofty, massive range of rustic work, where a noble simplicity, an imposing symmetry, and an awful grandeur, are happily blended : the whole elevation being of that impressive form, as to produce a strong moral effect upon the mind, and whose walls speak terror to the beholder.
Many other structures might be added to these, if the extent of this volume were sufficiently capacious to receive them; but with such as we have already mentioned we must content ourselves, and hasten to the river, from which the vast objects on this part of its shore have so long detained us.
But in our way thither, we cannot altogether pass by Bridewell without notice, as one of the most ancient buildings of this city ; and though now applied to the two different purposes of a place of correction for vagabonds and disorderly persons, and an hospital for educating a certain number of poor boys in useful trades and manual occupations, was once the palace of our sovereigns.
To the south of it, on the banks of the river, stood a convent of White Friars, founded in the yeai 1241, by a Sir Richard Grey; and whose revenues, at the dissolution, amounted to sixty-three pounds two shillings and four pence.
The spot where this religious house once flourished still retains the ancient name.
The noble approach to Blackfriars bridge, called Chatham Place, and Fleet-market, which extends to Holborn, cover a deep creek, known in modern times by the name of Fleet-ditch, and in the ancient writers by that of the Flete river.
Its entrance from the Thames was immediately below Bridewell; and the tide flowed up it as far as Holborn bridge, and brought up barges of considerable burthen.
Four stone bridges were thrown over it, and its sides were covered with quays and warehouses.
In former periods, it was considered to be of such utility, that it was scoured and kept open at a vast expence; and in the very beginning of the last century, a sum, amounting to near twenty-eight thousand pounds, was expended for that purpose.
In the early part of the present century, this canal appears to have been neglected, and became a nuisance to its neighbourhood and the city: part of it was accordingly filled up, and a sewer formed beneath it, to convey the water to the Thames: Fleet-market rose upon it in the year 1733.
The remainder was afterwards transformed into that line street, already mentioned, on the building of Blackfriars bridge, and which constitutes so proper an avenue to it.
Stow records, that in the year 1307, this creek, then called the river Flete, “ was of sufficient width and depth, that ten or twelve ships navies at once, with merchandizes, were wont to come to the aforesaid bridge of Flete.” It should however, be observed, that at this period, there were drawbridges on London bridge, through which vessels, or ships as they were then called, of a certain size, might pass and discharge their cargoes at the little harbours and landing places higher up the river.

We now renew our voyage where Blackfriars bridge stretches across the Thames, and while it promotes the convenience of the city, aids the grandeur of the river.
The length of this bridge, from wharf to wharf, is nine hundred and ninety-five feet, and the total breadth of it forty-two feet.
It consists of nine elliptical arches, and the central arch is an hundred feet wide..
Over each pier is a recess, or balcony, and below it are two Ionic pillars, supporting a pediment, which stand on a semicircular projection of the pier above high-water mark.
At each extremity the bridge rounds off to the right and left in a bold sweep, which adds very much to the beauty, as well as convenience, of the approach.
There are two flights of stone steps at each end, defended by iron rails, for the convenience of ascending from, or descending to, the water.
This elegant bridge was built after a design of Robert Mylne, Esquire; and the first stone was laid on the thirty-first day of October, 1760, by Sir Thomas Chitty, knight, lord mayor of London.
Several pieces of gold, silver, and copper coin, of his majesty George the Second, were placed under the stone, together with a Latin inscription, in large plates of pure tin, inscribing the bridge with die name of William Pitt, as a proof of the city’s affection and gratitude to a minister, under whose administration the ancient character and influence of Britain was restored.
But the bridge seems to have lost the pre-eminent name with which it was originally distinguished, in the vulgar title of its principal shore.
It was completed in the latter end of the year 1768, at the expence of one hundred and fifty-two thousand eight hundred and forty pounds, three shillings, and ten pence.
The view from the top of this bridge comprehends a long range of magnificent scenery, commanding, as it were, an amphitheatrical display of London from Westminster to the Tower, in which the cathedral of Saint Paul, that architectural boast of our country, is seen with superior advantage.
The Thames comes towards the bridge, on which we may be supposed to stand, with a grand sweep from above it, and proceeds, below it, in a bold broad line, to the ancient structure of London bridge; which, even in its renovated state, will bear no comparison with those structures that, in later times, have been erected to take a part in over-arching the tide of their common river.

BLACK FRYERS BRIDGE from Somerset Place

On the other side of the Fleet river, and nearly opposite to Bridewell, stood the great house of Black Friars, or Dominicans, whose name the district still retains.
This religious house was founded about the year 1276, and, by the pious bounty of King Edward the First, and his Queen Eleanor, became a rich and splendid monastery.
Several parliaments were held in it; and in the year 1522, the Emperor Charles the Fifth took up his residence within its walls.
Many of our ancient kings kept the public records and charters there, as well as at the Tower.
Among other circumstances that distinguished this religious house, it was the scene of those mock conferences which were held by Cardinal Campeggio and Cardinal Wolsey in the year 1529, as judges and legates, on the question of divorce between Henry and his unhappy queen; both those royal personages residing, at the same time, in the palace of Bridewell, to attend the citations of this fallacious judicature.
In this place also Wolsey may be said to have received the last blow that was given to his glory; as here the parliament sat which issued the sentence of praemunire against him.
But with all the important events of which this monastery appears to have been the scene, its revenues, at the dissolution, were no more than one hundred pounds, fifteen shillings, and five pence.
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Black Friars was much inhabited by noblemen and persons of high distinction.
Among others, lord Herbert, son of William fourth Earl of Worcester, had an house here, which Queen Elizabeth honoured with her presence, on occasion of his nuptials with the daughter and heiress of John lord Russel, son of Francis Earl of Bedford.
The Queen was received on her landing from the royal barge by the bride, and was borne in a chair, covered with a stately canopy, by six knights.
After dinner her majesty visited lord Cobham, who lived in the neighbourhood: there she supped, and was present at an entertainment, of which the Sidney papers give the following description.
“There was a memorable maske of eight ladies, and a straunge daunce new invented.
Their attire is this: each hath a skirt of cloth of silver; a rich wastcoat wrought with silkes, and gold and silver; a mantell of carnacion taffete, cast under the arme; and there haire loose about there shoulders, curiously knotted and interlaced.
Mrs. Fitton leade; these eight ladys maskers choose eight ladies more to daunce the measures.
Mrs. Fitton went to the queen, and woed her daunces: her majestye (the love of Essex rankling in her breast) asked her what she was ?
Affection, she said.
Affection! said the queen, Affection is false.
Yet her majestic rose up and daunced.

Though there are few if any visible remains of Baynard castle, which guarded this part of the Thames in the reigns of William the Conqueror, and several of his successors, we cannot pass by the spot where it once stood without giving a brief history of it.
This fortress was one of the castles built on the west end of the town, and is mentioned by Fitzstephens.
It derived its name from a Norman Baron, a follower of the Conqueror, and who died in the reign of William Rufus.
It was afterwards forfeited to the crown; and we find it was granted by Henry the First to Robert Fitzrichard, a younger son of Gilbert Earl of Clare; to whose family, according to Dugdale, was attached, in right of this castle, the office of castellan and banner-bearer to the city of London.
In the year 1428, the old castle was burned, and was afterwards rebuilt by Humphrey Duke of Glocester; on whose death it was granted by Henry the Sixth to Richard Duke of York.
In this castle the usurper Richard took upon him the title of king; and here he received the mayor and citizens of London, when they had been persuaded by Buckingham to urge him to take the crown.
It was also the scene of other historical events, and the residence of our sovereigns, or their favourites, till the great fire of the last century: it was then in the occupation of the Earl of Shrewsbury.
According to an old survey of London, it appears to have included a square court, with an octagonal tower in the centre, and two in the front; between which were several square projections occupying the height of the edifice, with the windows in pairs one above the other; and beneath was a bridge and stairs to the river.
A cellar belonging to this edifice yet remains.

The next place which demands particular attention on this side of the Thames, is Queenhithe, or harbour: its original name was Edred’s hithe, which is supposed to have existed in the time of the Saxons.
It has long been a place for large boats and barges to discharge their lading; and even ships, in ancient times, anchored at this place, as they now do at Billingsgate; when there was a drawbridge in one part of London bridge which admitted the passage of large vessels.
It was in the reign of Henry the Third that this place acquired its present name, being called Ripa Regina, or the queen’s wharf.
That monarch forbade the ships of the cinque ports to bring their corn to any other place on the banks of the Thames; the customs of which, and other duties, are supposed to have been appropriated to supply the privy purse of the queen.
The next wharf connected with the ancient commerce of London, is now known by the name of the Three Cranes, which was formerly called the Vintry, and was, by royal order, allotted for landing foreign wines.
The wine trade in this country was first with Bourdeaux and the neighbouring provinces, as early, according to Camden, as the Conquest; but it became very considerable in the reign of Henry the Second, in consequence of his marriage with Eleanor, daughter of the Duke of Aquitaine.
Our intercourse with the Canary islands for sweet wines was not till a much later period.
In this neighbourhood was the great house called the Vintrie, with vast wine-vaults beneath it, which was famous for being the residence of Sir Henry Picard, vintner; who, when lord mayor of London, in the year 1356, “ did sumptuously feast,” in the language of Stow, “ Edward King of England, John King of Erance, the King of Cipres (then arrived in England), David King of Scots, and Edward Prince of Wales, with many noblemen and knights, to the great glory of the citizens of London in those days." At no inconsiderable distance from the place we have just mentioned is Dowgate, which has long lost its former consideration.
Here stood one of the Roman gates, which has been mentioned in a former page, and here the ancient Wallbrook runs in a concealed channel to the river.
The Steel Yard, which next solicits our attention, is a place intimately connected with the commercial history of our country.
Here was situated the Guildhalda Teutoniconim, or guildhall of the Easterlings or Germans, who were our masters in the art of commerce, and were settled here so early as the tenth century.
Here was also their quay, for the landing of steel, flax, hemp, pitch, tar, masts, cables, linen cloth, wax, etc. with wheat, rye, and other grain.
Its name, however, is not derived, as has been generally supposed, from the steel which formed a principal article in the trade of it, but from stael-hoff ., a contraction of stapel-hoff, or the general warehouse of the German people.
The Anseatic merchants had not only been very useful to the commerce of this country, but to the sovereigns of it, who, on sudden emergencies, had been frequently supplied with large sums of money by them.
But in the reign of Elizabeth, when commerce was better understood, and the English merchants could do all that these foreigners had done for them, her majesty, in the year 1597, directed a commission to the mayor and sheriffs of London to shut up the house inhabited by the merchants of the Hans towns at the Steel Yard, and ordered all the Germans, throughout England, to quit her dominions.
This place still continues to be a great repository for imported iron.
An adjoining street, called Cold Harbour, derives its name from a magnificent house called Golde Herberzh, or Cold Inn, which was probably so denominated from its vicinity to the river.
It was the residence, among other persons of great distinction, of Henry Prince of Wales, and granted to him in the year 1410 by his father, Henry the Fourth.
The hall of the fishmongers’ company, and which is among the largest of those buildings belonging to the trading corporations of the city, is the only object that attracts our notice before we come to the bridge, near which it stands.
Nor can we properly pass on to the history of that ancient structure without mentioning the street which takes the name of the river, and with which the several places that have been just mentioned are in some degree connected.
It begins at Blackfriars, and extends eastward as far as the Tower, being a mile in length.
In very early times, it was guarded towards the river, by a wall strengthened with towers; but, after the building of the Tower and London bridge, they were of no further use, and sunk into decay.
This street, which is now occupied only by active trade, appears to have been, in former times, a favourite situation, not only of great mercantile characters, but of nobles, prelates, and princes.

LONDON BRIDGE

We now proceed to London bridge, whose antiquity carries back our inquiries to a very early period of the English history.
The year of its foundation is not ascertained by antiquarian sagacity, but it appears to have been built between the years 993 and 1016, since, in the first of them Uidaf the Dane, according to the Saxon Chronicle, sailed up the river as far as Stanes; and in the latter, Canute King of Denmark, when he besieged London, caused a channel to be formed on the south of the Thames about Rotherhithe, for conveying his ships above the bridge.
If any credit is to be given to the traditionary account of the origin of the ancient wooden bridge, given by Bartholomew Linstead, the last prior of Saint Mary Overy’s convent, London is indebted for this structure to that religious house.
Stow seems to be of this opinion; but the persons who continued his work, allow no other merit to the monks of this convent, than that they gave their consent to the erection of the bridge, on receiving a sufficient recompence for the loss of the ferry by which they had been supported : and that this conjecture is not without foundation, appears from the appropriation of lands for the support of London bridge, at so early a period as the reign of Henry the First.
In the year 1136, it was consumed by fire; and in 1163, it was in such a ruinous state as to be rebuilt, under the inspection of Peter, curate of Saint Mary Coleclmrch in London, who was celebrated for his knowledge in the science of architecture.
At length the continued and heavy expence which was necessary to maintain and support a wooden bridge becoming burthensome to the people, who, when the lands appropriated for its maintenance proved inadequate to their object, were taxed to supply the deficiencies, it was resolved in the year 1176 to build one of stone a little to the west of the other, and this structure was completed in the year 1209.
The same architect was employed, who died four years before it was finished, and was buried in a beautiful chapel, probably of his own construction, dedicated to Saint Thomas, which stood on the ninth pier from the north end, and had an entrance from the river, as well as the street, by a winding staircase.
In the middle of it was a tomb, supposed to contain the remains of its architect.
But though so much art and expence were employed in building the bridge with stone, it suffered very much from a fire in the streets at each end of it; so that from this accident, and other circumstances, it was in such a ruinous condition, that King Edward the First granted a brief to the bridge-keeper, to ask and receive the benevolence of his subjects through the kingdom towards repairing it.
It would be equally irksome and unnecessary to enumerate all the casualties which befel London bridge, till the corporation of London came to the resolution, in the year 1746, of taking down all the houses, and enlarging one or more of its arches, to improve the navigation beneath it: but it was ten years before this resolution was carried into effect.
The space occupied by the piers and sterlings of this bridge is considerably greater than that allowed for the passage of the water; so that half the breadth of the river is in this place entirely stopped.
But instead of making reparations, the whole ought to have been removed, as a very magnificent structure might have been erected, at a much less expence than has been employed in maintaining the present nuisance to the river, and disgrace of the city.
The last alteration cost near one hundred thousand pounds, and without answering its principal object; which was to diminish its fall at the ebbing of the tide, and consequently to lessen the danger of a passage which has proved a watery grave to so many people.
This vast work appears to have been founded on enormous piles driven closely together: on their tops were laid long planks ten inches thick, strongly bolted ; and on them was placed the base of the pier, the lowermost stones of which are bedded in pitch, to prevent the water from damaging the work: around the whole were the piles which are called the sterlings, designed to strengthen and preserve the foundation: these contracted the space between the piers in such a manner, as to occasion, at the return of every tide, a fall of live feet, or a number of cataracts full of danger, and, as they have proved, of destruction.
This structure has been styled by ancient writers, the wonder of the world, the bridge of the world, and the bridge of wonders; and how well it deserved this pompous character will be seen from the description of its form and condition, previous to that alteration to which it owes its present appearance.
The Thames, in this part of it, is nine hundred and fifteen feet broad, which is the length of the bridge.
The street that covered it consisted, before the houses fell to decay, of lofty edifices, built with some attention to exterior regularity : it was twenty feet wide, and the buildings on either side about twenty-six feet in depth.
Across the middle of the street ran several lofty arches, extending from side to side, the bottom part of each arch terminating at the first story, and the upper part reaching near the tops of the houses ; the work over the arches extending in a straight line from side to side.
They were designed to prevent the buildings from giving way; and were therefore formed of strong timbers, bolted in the corresponding wood work of the houses that flanked them.
Thus the street on the bridge had nothing to distinguish it from any narrow street in the city but the high arches just described, and three openings, guarded with iron rails, which afforded a view of the river.
But the appearance from the water baffles all description; and displayed a strange example of curious deformity.
Nineteen unequilateral arches, of different heights and breadths, with sterlings increased to a monstrous size by frequent repairs, served to support a range of houses as irregular as themselves ; the back part of which, broken by hanging closets and irregular projections, offered a very disgusting object, while many of the buildings overhung the arches, so as to hide the upper part of them, and seemed to lean in such a manner as to fill the beholder with equal amazement and horror.
In one part of this extraordinary structure there had formerly been a drawbridge, which was useful by way of defence, as well as to admit ships to the upper part of the river, and was guarded by a tower.
It prevented Fauconbridge, the bastard, from entering the city in the year 1471 with his armed followers, on the pretence of liberating the unfortunate Henry from his imprisonment in the Tower.
It also checked, and indeed seemed to annihilate the ill-conducted insurrection of Sir Thomas Wiatt.
in the reign of Queen Mary.
In the times of civil dissension, which rendered this kingdom a continual scene of turbulence and bloodshed, this tower was employed to expose the heads of traitors; and an old map of the city, in the year 1597, represents this building as decorated with a sad and numerous exhibition of them.
But though the passage over the bridge is very much enlarged and improved, and forms a very handsome communication between the city of London and borough of Southwark, we cannot but lament, as if the miserable contrivance of the bridge itself were not a sufficient impediment to the navigation, that the four arches, which have been so long occupied by an engine to supply the neighbourhood with water, still continue to be incumbered with it.

At a small distance from the bridge, and in a situation unworthy of it, stands the Monument, another of those works which alone would have immortalized the genius of Sir Christopher Wren.
It is a magnificent column of the Doric order, two hundred and two feet high, lluted, and finished with a representation of flames in brass, instead of a statue of the reigning king, as the great architect himself proposed.
On the cap of the pedestal, at tbe angles, are four dragons, the supporters of the city arms, the work of Edward Pierce the younger; and on the west side of the pedestal is a bas- relief, cut by Gabriel Cibber, in an admirable taste, and emblematic of the terrible catastrophe which the structure itself was raised to commemorate.
It was begun in the year 1671, and finished in 1677, at the expence of fourteen thousand five hundred pounds.

In passing from hence over London bridge to the borough of Southwark, two very contrasted prospects present themselves.
To the west, the river is bounded by Blackfriars bridge, stretching beautifully across it, with the ranges of wharfs, quays, and vast commercial appendages, forming, on either side, a stupendous embankment; while the magnificence of London, so often described, rises full in the eye; and is contrasted, with considerable effect, by the crowded and busy humility of the opposite shore; where the fine Gothic tower of Saint Mary Overy’s alone appears to dignify it.
To the eastern side of the bridge, the river is almost obscured by the numerous vessels that cover it; and a forest of masts rises up to mingle with the buildings and spires beyond them.
Nor is it possible to behold this situation and circumstance of the river, and look back from this rush of waters, this crowd of living and artificial objects, with the bustle of commerce, the hurry of trade, and metropolitan grandeur, without indulging a curious comparison with the native beauties of the stream, and the tranquil scenery of its rural progress.

The London side of the river has been considered with particular attention; but the opposite shore furnishes little that would justify a similar description.
Wharfs, timber yards, and warehouses, range along between the two bridges, without any buildings to aggrandize the scene, but the ruins of the Albion mills, (which, before they were destroyed by fire in the year 1791, contained the most powerful and comprehensive machinery, for grinding corn, in Europe,) and the tower of Saint Mary Overy’s church in the borough of Southwark.
Southwark.which, though in a different county, may be considered as a suburb of London, is of an extent and population that would rank it among the largest cities.
It was called by the Saxons Suthverke, or the South work, most probably from some fort which bore that aspect from London.
From a similar reason it might also be called the Bure, or Borough.
It was governed by its own bailiff till the year 1327, when the citizens of London, suffering great inconveniences from the escape of malefactors thither, when they were without the cognizance of the city magistrates, obtained a grant, by which the mayor of London was constituted bailiff of Southwark, and empowered to govern it by his deputy.
The inhabitants, however, recovered their former privileges, which they enjoyed till King Edward the Sixth granted Southwark to the city of London, for the sum of six hundred and forty-seven pounds, two shillings, and one penny; and it was formed into a twenty-sixth ward, by the title of Bridge Ward without; and Sir John Ayliff was its first alderman.
It had long before enjoyed the privilege of sending members to parliament, and is mentioned among the boroughs in the reign of Edward the Third.
The first time that Southwark appears on the records of history is in the year 1052, when Earl Godwin sailed up the river Thames to attack the royal navy of fifty ships, lying before the palace of Westminster.
We are told, by Simeon Dunelm, that he went ad Suthwecree, and stayed there till the return of the tide.
Southwark is divided into two parts; the Borough liberty, in which the lord mayor’s steward or bailiff holds the courts; and the manor of Southwark, with its subdivisions; in each of which a court-leet is held at certain periods.
It is under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Winchester.
The military government is subject to the Lord lieutenant and deputy lieutenants of the county of Surrey.
The extent of Southwark is very considerable, stretching along the Thames from Lambeth to Rotherhithe; and is divided into the parishes of Saint Saviour, Saint Olave, Saint George, and Saint Thomas.
Of its exterior appearance little can he said; as it is entirely inhabited by tradesmen, factors, and manufacturers, and must be regarded as a place where the acquisition of wealth appears to be more considered than the elegant expenditure of it.
The church of Saint George is mentioned by Stow as of great antiquity, having been bestowed by Thomas Aderne and his son on the neighbouring monks of Bermondsey, it was rebuilt in its present form in the year 1736.
Near this church stood the magnificent palace of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, the favourite of Henry the Eighth.
After the death of that excellent nobleman it reverted to the king, who established there a royal mint; and the place where it stood still retains the name.
The King’s Bench and Marshalsea prisons are also in this parish; and, within the same district, near the water, on the bankside, stood the Paris-garden, one of the ancient theatres, where Ben Jonson performed; and at a small distance from it was the Bear-garden wherein,” says Stow, were kept bears, bulls, and other beasts, to be baited. "
Near this scene of cruel pastime were the stews, or brothels, which were not merely permitted, but openly licensed, by government, under certain regulations, confirmed by act of parliament in the reign of Henry the Second.
They were at first eighteen, but were afterwards reduced to twelve, and formed a row of houses, facing the Thames, with signs painted on their fronts.
They were suppressed by Henry the Eighth, 1546.
The most remarkable structure in the borough of Southwark is the church of Saint Saviour, anciently belonging to the convent of Saint Mary Overy.
This religious house is said to have been originally founded by a maiden named Mary, for sisters, and endowed with a ferry across the river Thames; from which circumstance it may be supposed to have derived its name.
It was converted by Swithin, a noble lady, into a college of priests; but underwent a further change from the piety of William Pont de L'Arche, and William Dauney, Norman knights, into an institution for regular canons.
Its revenues at the dissolution, according to Dugdale, amounted to six hundred and fifty-four pounds, six shillings, and sixpence.
The conventual church, built by William Giflard, bishop of Winchester, in the reign of Henry the First, is supposed to have shared the fate of the convent, which was consumed by lire in the year 1207 ; and the present structure is supposed to have been rebuilt in the reigns of Richard the Second or Henry the Fourth.
It is a large and beautiful pile of Gothic architecture, in the form of a cross, with a square tower that rises to the height of one hundred and fifty feet.
At the dissolution, the inhabitants of Southwark purchased it of the king, and converted it into a parish church: it was soon after united, by act of parliament, with that of Saint Margaret’s of the Hill, under the name of Saint Saviour, which, however, it only shares with its original denomination.
Beneath a rich Gothic arch in the north wall of this church, is the monument of the celebrated poet, John Gower, the friend of Chaucer, whom he survived only two years, dying in the year 1402.
But we cannot quit this large and populous place without mentioning the royal hospital of Saint Thomas, and that built by Thomas Guy, citizen of London; two magnificent charities, which not only dignify the place where they stand, but are among the most distinguished of the many similar institutions which prove the benevolent character of the British people.
The first of these noble foundations was originally laid by a prior of Bermondsey, in the year 1213, as an almonry for the reception of indigent children and necessitous proselytes; but Peter de Rupibus, bishop of Winchester, extended the plan, enlarged the building, and endowed it with a revenue of three hundred and forty-three pounds per annum, dedicating it to Saint Thomas the apostle, and resigning it to the care of the abbot of Bermondsey, for the relief of the poor.
In this form, and as an appertenance to Bermondsey abbey, this hospital fell to the crown at the dissolution of religious houses.
In the year 1551, the Lord mayor and citizens of London purchased it, with the manor of Southwark, from Edward the Sixth, and, on its being repaired by them, the king incorporated the governors in common with the hospitals of Bridewell, Bethlem, and Christ-church.
In the latter part of the last century, the old building was become so ruinous, that in the year 1699 the governors solicited the benevolence of the public for its support; and with such success, that they were enabled to rebuild it in the extensive and magnificent form which it now possesses.
The expences attending this foundation, in relieving the sick, amount to about ten thousand pounds per annum; and almost as many patients annually receive the best assistance that medicine and surgery can afford them.
Guy's hospital is, perhaps, the greatest endowment ever made by one person, especially in the rank of private life.
Mr.Guy was a bookseller and stationer of London, who at the age of seventy-six, took a lease of the governors of Saint Thomas’s hospital of a piece of ground near it, for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years; where, in 1721, he built this hospital, and left the sum of two hundred and nineteen thousand pounds for its endowment.
This was the greatest part of an immense fortune, amassed from very small beginnings, chiefly by purchasing seamen’s tickets in the reign of Queen Ann, and by successful stock-jobbing in the year 1720.
It is a very splendid edifice, planned with superior skill, and offers every necessary accommodation to the numerous patients who are received within its walls.
On our return to the river, and having passed London bridge, which, from the dangerous circumstances connected with it, is an opprobrium to the city from whence it derives its name, the first object on the Middlesex shore is Billingsgate, whose etymology has not been attainable by our inquiry.
It is a large water-gate, or harbour, for small country vessels laden with fruit, Ike.
but more particularly for such as bring fish (o supply the demands of the metropolis.
It has long been known in the annals of commerce as a principal harbour on the Thames; but has been celebrated as a fish-market no longer than the reign of William the 1 lurch The Customhouse is at a small distance beyond it, and when considered in a political view, may be regarded as one of the first objects on the banks of the river, which may be said to bring continual tribute thither from the commerce of the world.
The present building, which is a large regular edifice, decorated with the orders of architecture, was erected in the beginning of the present century.
The original customhouse, of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was destroyed by the fire of London.
It was afterwards rebuilt by Charles the Second, when it again suffered from the same destructive element in the year 1718, and rose again in its present form.
Before the establishment of this customhouse Billingsgate contained the principal office for the receipt of export and import duties.
As early as the year 979, Brompton informs us, “ that a small vessel was to pay ad Bilynggesgate one penny halfpenny as a toll; a greater, bearing sails, one penny; a keel or hulk, four pence; a ship loaden with wood, one piece for toll; and a boat with fish, one halfpenny, or a larger, one penny.” Nor will it surely be considered as uninteresting or irregular, to give a general idea of the progress of British commerce, by offering a few distinct and progressive statements of the customs derived from it, from its earliest state to the present moment.
At so remote a period as the year 979, there was a commercial intercourse between this country and France for wines; and mention is made, in some of our ancient writers, of ships from “ the city of Rouen in Normandy, which came into the Thames laden with that merchandize.” This import, however, could not be very considerable, as in the year 1268 it appears that the half year’s customs for foreign commodities amounted to no more than seventy-live pounds, six shillings, and ten pence.
In considerably less than a century they had risen to eight thousand pounds a year.
In 1590, the latter end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the customs produced a revenue of fifty thousand pounds: and the tranquillity of her successor’s reign had raised them, in the year 1613, to one hundred and nine thousand five hundred and seventy-two pounds, eighteen shillings, and four pence, in the port of London only.
In 1641, they were increased to five hundred thousand pounds; but, from the civil wars which succeeded, they were reduced in 1666 to one hundred and ten thousand pounds.
From the year 1671 to 1688, their medium amount was five hundred and fifty-five thousand seven hundred and fifty-two pounds.
At the beginning of the present century, they advanced on an average to upwards of two millions.
In the year 1789, the customs of the port of London had reached the enormous sum of three millions seven hundred and eleven thousand one hundred and twenty-six pounds; and in the year 1794, in the midst of an unexampled war, they advanced to three millions nine hundred and eleven thousand pounds, sixteen shillings, and eight pence.
In Water-lane, in the vicinity of the custom house, is the Trinity House, a society founded in the year 1515, by Sir Thomas Spert, Knight, commander of the great ship Henry Grace de Dieu, and comptroller of the navy to Henry the Eighth.
This institution was formed at a time when the British navy began to assume the character of a warlike establishment.
It consists of a master, four wardens, eight assistants, and eighteen elder brethren, who are selected from commanders in the navy and merchants’ service; to whom are occasionally added a few persons of the highest rank and distinction.
They form a regular board for the conservation of our ships, both naval and commercial.
For this purpose they are invested with considerable powers.
They examine the mathematical scholars of Christ’s Hospital, as well as the masters of his Majesty’s ships.
They appoint pilots for the river Thames ; settle the general rates of pilotage; erect lighthouses and sea-marks; grant licences to poor seamen, not free of the city, to ply on the Thames; prevent aliens from serving on board English ships without licence; punish seamen for desertion or mutiny, in the merchants’ service, but subject to an appeal to the Lords of the Admiralty; superintend the deepening and cleansing the river Thames, and have the ballast office under their jurisdiction.
They are by their charter empowered to purchase lands, as well as to receive donations for charitable uses; and they accordingly relieve annually several thousands of poor seamen, their widows and orphans.
The house is by no means suitable to the dignity and character of this most excellent and useful foundation.
It is there, however, that the business of the institution is carried on; though the mother house is at Deptford; the corporation being named “ the Master, Wardens, and Assistants, of the Guild or Fraternity of the most glorious and undivided Trinity, and of Saint Clement, in the parish of Deptford Strond, in the county of Kent.

THE TOWER

We now approach the Tower of London, which is not only interesting from its antiquity, and having been the scene of such various and important transactions in the history of our country; but, from certain circumstances, intimately connected with it, is one of the first gratifications of early curiosity.
Taken also in a picturesque view, it becomes an object that at once affords grandeur and variety to the river, which it overlooks and commands.
It was erected on the site of a fort that was part of the ancient defence of London ; and is represented by Camden as “ a noble citadel, encompassed by an extensive wall, with lofty towers, a rampart, and wide ditch; a noble armoury, and several houses, like unto a town.” The great square tower, called the White Tower, was built in the year 1078, under the directions of Gundulph, bishop of Rochester, who gave another example of his genius, in the military architecture of his age, by projecting the castle of that city over which he exercised episcopal jurisdiction.
This structure was long distinguished by the name of Caesar’s Tower, but on what authority does not appear.
The learned editor of Camden is of opinion, that it was the treasury and mint of the Romans, from a silver ingot, inscribed ex officio Honorii, with several gold coins of the emperors Elonorius and Arcadius, discovered in the old foundations of the ordnance office there, in the year 1777 : and one of our great English poets has adopted its ancient title in his beautiful apostrophe to this building.

Ye towers of Julius, London's lasting shame,
By many a foul and midnight murder fed.

In 1092 , the Tower received great injury from a violent tempest; but was repaired by William Rufus and his successor.
The first of these princes laid the foundation of another castellated building on the south side, between it and the Thames, which was afterwards called the Tower of Saint Thomas.
Beneath that was the traitor’s gate, through which state prisoners were brought from the river; and this was succeeded by another, called the bloody gate; for, as an ingenious writer observes, “ till these happier ages, there was little difference between confinement and the scaffold, or private assassination.” This building was not finished till the succeeding reign.
The Tower was inclosed by William Longchamp, bishop of Ely and chancelfor of England, in the reign of Richard the First.
That haughty prelate, being in a state of enmity w ith John, third brother to Richard, under a pretence of guarding against his designs, surrounded the whole with embattled walls, and a broad ditch, which was afterwards contrived, by means of sluices, to communicate with the river.
Several succeeding princes made those additions to it which constitute its present state and figure.
The ground at present occupied by the Tower within the walls, contains twelve acres and five rods; and the circuit on the outside of the ditch, is one thousand and fifty-two feet.
The lion’s tower was built by Edward the Fourth : it was originally called the bulwark ; but changed its name from its subsequent application, by being made the receptacle of the royal collection of wild beasts.
The curious foreign animals presented to Henry the First by the Emperor Frederick, were conveyed from Woodstock to the Tower, and formed the first royal menagerie there ; which has been continued, and well supplied to the present day.
Henry the Third, in the year 1240, ordered a stone gate or bulwark, with other additions, to he made to this fortress, and the outside wall of the square tower to be whitened; from whence it was called the White Tower.
Edward the Third built the church, and, in the year 1465, Edward the Fourth greatly enlarged the fortifications .
Since the Restoration the White Tower has been repaired; sluices have also been contrived, for letting in and retaining, as occasion may require, the water of the Thames, with many other improvements and additional buildings, which give the whole an appearance of a town, rather than that of a fortress.
The Tower is separated from the river by a narrow ditch, and a convenient wharf, to which there is a communication by a drawbridge, for the more convenient issuing and receiving military stores.
The wharf is mounted with sixty-one pieces of cannon, which are fired on state holidays, and, in time of war, are employed to announce the glory which is acquired by the British arms.
The principal buildings within the walls besides the White Tower, are the church; the offices of ordnance, of the mint, and of the keepers of the records; the jewel office, where the crown and state regalia are deposited; the horse armoury; the grand storehouse; the new or small armoury, and several handsome houses for the principal officers residing in the Tower, with many lesser buildings for inferior officers; with barracks for soldiers, and prisons for state delinquents.
The principal officers to whom the government and care of the Tower is committed, are the constable of the Tower, an officer of considerable dignity, who is chosen from the first rank of nobility.
He has under him a lieutenant and a deputy-lieutenant, a Tower major, chaplain, and inferior officers; with forty warders, who wear the same uniform as the king’s yeomen of the guard.
The curiosities contained in this fortress are detailed at large in the various accounts of London and its environs, and to them we must beg leave to refer those who are anxious to know more than this page can afford them.
The Tower was considered, till the reign of Elizabeth, as a royal palace; and had been the scene of many a long imprisonment and cruel murder.
Here, among other victims of jealousy, ambition, revenge, or policy, the meek usurper Henry the Sixth was stabbed by the savage Gloucester; here the irresolute Clarence was assassinated by hired ruffians; and here Edward the Fifth and his brother the Duke of York, those unoffending children, were sacrificed to the bloody ambition of their remorseless uncle.
To these may be added the ill-fated Anne Boleyn, who suffered within these walls; and, not many years after, Lady Jane Grey, the most learned and accomplished woman of any age, and whose amiable qualities equalled all her splendid endowments, at the early age of seventeen, and with an invincible fortitude, met the same fate, in the same place.
Tower Hill is a spacious area, that stretches round the north, east, and west sides of the lower, and is bounded by buildings, the residence of merchants and tradesmen.
It is under the jurisdiction of the city of London, and has, for many a century, been the scene of execution for traitors of rank and title.
So far back as the year l388, Sir Simon de Burley, knight of the garter, tutor of Richard the Second, and the most accomplished man of his age, suffered by the axe on this spot, the innocent victim to a cruel faction.
The amiable and repentant Lord Kilmarnock, the undaunted lord Balmenno, and the execrable Simon lord Lovat, were the last who suffered here on the scaffold.
Their executions were in the year 1746.
The Tower also possesses an exclusive jurisdiction, called the Tower Liberties, which extends over a considerable surrounding district, and are subject to a court of record for debt, damage, or trespass, held by a steward appointed by the constable of the Tower.

The next circumstance which claims our attention on the banks of the river, is the hospital of Saint Catherine, originally founded in the year 1148, by Matilda of Boulogne, wife of King Stephen, for the repose of her son Baldwin, and her daughter Matilda; as well as for the maintenance of a master, brothers, and sisters, and other poor persons.
In the year 1273, Eleanor, widow of Henry, possessed herself of it, dissolved the old foundation, refounded it in honour of the same saint, for a master, three brethren, chaplains, three sisters, ten beadswomen ; and six poor scholars ; and specially reserved its patronage to future queens of England ; a right which, in the various revolution of things since that remote period, does not appear to have been invaded.
Her present Majesty Queen Charlotte, is the twenty-ninth royal patroness.
The hospital contains an house for the master, brethren, sisters, and other members.
The collegiate church is an handsome Gothic building, which will repay the visit of the antiquary.
The historian of the place, and of other antiquities, the late learned Doctor Ducarel, is interred there.

Wapping, so well known as the residence of seafaring people, stretches along the river side from Saint Catherine’s for near two miles, as far as Limehouse.
In this parish is Execution Dock, where criminals, found guilty of offences on the high seas, meet their doom.
The gallows erected on these melancholy occasions is placed at low water mark; but the custom of leaving the body to be overflowed by three tides has long since been omitted.
The hamlet of Shadwell is a continuation of buildings along the river to the village of Radcliffe.
Limehouse forms another link in this extended chain of habitations; and may be considered as the eastern end of London by the side of the Thames.
It is continued, however, by the hamlet of Poplar, across the Isle of Dogs, to the river Lea, which separates the counties of Middlesex and Essex.
At Limehouse the New Cut, or Poplar Canal, discharges itself into the Thames.
This most useful communication was begun about twenty years ago, and barges enter it from the river Lea, near Bow, by means of a lock, called Bow Lock.
The canal is about a mile and a quarter in length, and serves to bring, by a more safe, certain, and expeditious way, to the capital, the corn, malt, and flour of Hertfordshire and the neighbouring counties.
It is also of great use in conveying to the Thames the produce of the great distilleries near Bow ; as well as coals, and the articles of the metropolis to the counties that verge on the river Lea.
This canal saves the circuitous passage from the mouth of the Lea round the Isle of Dogs, which is subject also to the additional delays of adverse winds and opposing tides.
The Middlesex shore of the river, which we have just passed, is altogether employed in the service of commercial and naval operations.
It is almost entirely occupied by warehouses for the reception of merchandise, docks for shipping, manufactures of sail-cloth, cordage, and iron work, and all that relates to naval supply.
The river itself is now become a vast watery avenue, formed by tiers of ships, whose rising masts obscure, in a great measure, the objects of the shore; so that the towers of Radcliffe and Limehouse churches did not appear till we had passed the parochial districts to which they belong.
The opposite side of the river offers a similar view, and thither we must return to give the history of it.
The parish of Horsleydown, originally a meadow for feeding cattle, forms the communication of Southwark to Rotherhithe, which is about a mile and an half from London bridge, and derives its name from the Saxon words rother, a sailor, and hyth, a wharf or haven.
It is usually called Redriff; and this pronunciation appears to have prevailed as early as the thirteenth century.
There are eleven dockyards in this parish, in some of which a considerable number of ships are built for the service of the East India Company; the others are employed for building vessels of an inferior size.
Indeed the whole extent of the shore is inhabited by those artificers, manufacturers, and tradesmen who furnish materials and provisions for shipping.
The church is an handsome modern edifice, which was finished in the year 1715.
In the churchyard was interred, in December, 1784, Prince Lee Boo, whose native islands have been rendered so interesting by Mr.Keate’s elegant and seducing Narrative of Captain Wilson’s residence on them.
On the tomb of this amiable young man is the following inscription : “To the memory of Prince Lee Boo, a native of the Pelew or Palas Islands, and son to Abba Thulle, Rupack or King of the Goo-roo-ra, who departed this life on the twenty-seventh of December, 1784, aged twenty years: this stone is inscribed by the Honourable East India Company, as a testimony of the humane and kind treatment afforded by his father to the crew of their ship the Antelope, Captain Wilson, which was wrecked off that island in the night of the ninth of August, 1783.” The trench, said to be cut by Canute, to besiege the city of London by water, began in this parish.
The channel, through which the river was turned in the year 1173, for the purpose of rebuilding London bridge, is said, by Stow, to have had the same course.
The river now makes a bold turn to the right, along the western bank of the Isle of Dogs, and enters the county of Kent at Deptford, renowned for its royal docks and naval arsenals.
The name of this place was originally taken from its deep ford over the river Ravensborne, before any bridge was erected.
It receives in ancient writings the denomination of Deptford Strond, or West Greenwich, which, in later times, became solely appropriated to the lower parts of it.
A very small district of this place is in the county of Surrey, and the rest in the county of Kent.
Deptford appears by the early records of our country, to have been given by William the Conqueror to Gilbert de Magminot, one of his chief captains and favourites; but it was little more than a small fishing town, till the reign of Henry the Eighth, when the guild or corporation of the d unity house was established by royal grant.
It is now become a very considerable place, and contains, at least, two thousand houses.
Its vicinity to London, of which it may be almost said to form a part, and its situation on the shore of the Thames, have combined to encourage the establishment of several considerable manufactories, which, together with the docks and shipping business, occasion it to be a place of much resort, traffic, and opulence.
But the chief importance of Deptford arises from its magnificent clock, first made there by Henry the Eighth, where the royal navy was formerly built and repaired, till it was found more convenient to build the larger ships at Woolwich and other places, where there is a greater depth of water.
Nevertheless the yard has, from time to time, been enlarged to more than twice its original dimensions ; and great numbers of artificers and workmen aie employed here in the different branches of naval architecture.
It has a wet dock of two acres, and another of an acre and an half, with long ranges of storehouses, as well as buildings for the residence of the officers who are obliged to live on the spot.
This yard is not under the direction of any particular commission, but subject to the immediate inspection of the navy-board.
Besides the royal dock, there are many plicate ones; some of which, from their extent, the great number of ships built in them, and the vast quantities of stores they possess, seem to be rather so many naval arsenals of a considerable kingdom, than a mere partial apparatus employed in the service of commerce.
These docks offer their wonders in all the forms and operations of ship-building to the contemplative voyager of the river.
It may satisfy curiosity to add, that the Czar Peter of Russia resided at Deptford, while he studied navigation in England, and completed his knowledge of naval tactics.

GREENWICH from Deptford Yard

The river, called the Ravensborne, which empties itself into the Thames at this place, rises on Keston common, at a small distance westward from the ancient camp at Idolwood hill, in the parish of Keston; and directing its course between Hayes and Bromley, runs through the eastern bounds of Beckenham towards Lewisham, where, at the hamlet of South End, it supplies the steel manufactory ; from thence it flows on to Deptford, where it intersects the London road, having an handsome stone bridge over it; from whence it is navigable for lighters and small craft to its conflux with the Thames.

GREENWICH

In this reach of the river, the continuing forest of masts prevents any view but the high rough grounds and rows of buildings that discover the verge of Blackheath, till on another bend of the river, Greenwich hospital, with its park rising behind it, appears with uncommon effect and grandeur,—the pride of the river as an object, and the boast of Britain as an institution.
Greenwich, from the Saxon word Grenawic, viridis sinus , or Green bay, will now receive a fond and partial attention.
In ancient records it is called East Greenwich, to distinguish it from Deptford, which was sometime called West Greenwich.
It is known only as a fishing town so late as the reign of Henry the Fifth; at the more early periods of our history it was resorted to as a safe road for shipping ; and here the whole Danish fleet lay, in the time of King Ethelred, for three or four years together, while the army was generally encamped on the hill above the town, now called Blackheath.
Here also the good Alphege, archbishop of Canterbury, was cruelly put to death by those invaders in the year 1011, because he could not pay the ransome required of him.
Greenwich belonged, at the Conquest, to the abbey of Saint Peter at Ghent in Flanders, till Henry the Fifth, seizing it among the lands of alien priories, gave it to Shene; and at the dissolution it devolved to the crown.
The palace begun by Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, in the reign of Henry the Sixth, was enlarged by Edward the Fourth.
Henry the Seventh made some additions to it, and Henry the Eighth spared no cost to embellish it.
During the reign of the latter monarch, and long afterwards, it was called Placentia, or the Manor of Plezaunce,” and was the scene of many costly banquetings, feasts, and elections of knights of the garter, and splendid tournaments.
Among the many royal persons who were born in this palace, were Henry the Eighth, his brother Edmund, Edward the Sixth, the bigot Mary, and the glorious Elizabeth.
The latter of these princesses made considerable additions to it.
and renewed beneath its roof, and in its park and gardens, the magnificent festivities of her father.
It was a favourite residence of her immediate successor James the First, as well as of his successor Charles ; and then shared the fate of all royal property, by becoming subject to the power and disposal of the commonwealth rulers.
On the Restoration, this manor and palace, with its demesnes, reverted to the crown.
But Charles the Second, finding the old palace in a state of decay, from the want of necessary repairs during the usurpation, ordered it to be taken down, and began to execute the design of a very magnificent palace on the spot, of which one of the present wings was the only part completed by him.
In the reign of William and Mary, Sir Christopher Wren was employed to finish it; and except the two pavilions next the water, which were designed by Inigo Jones, the rest of this superb edifice, with the fine colonnades, were the work of that great architect.
This hospital is the most magnificent edifice in England, and only wants a proper centre to make it perfect.
The queen’s house in Greenwich park, though the work of Inigo Jones, is a very trifling termination to such a grand architectural avenue; and would not have remained but by the express order of Queen Mary.
The chapel, which was destroyed by fire in the year 1779, has been rebuilt under the direction of the late James Stuart, surveyor of the hospital, and known by the better title of Athenian Stuart, from his travels in Greece, and his work on the Antiquities of Athens.
This is one of the most beautiful buildings of its kind in the world, and is a proud example of the taste and genius of the architect who designed it.
In this hospital, whose magnificence far transcends the palaces of our kings, the maimed and veteran saifor, after having encountered the storms of every sea, and the perils of many a battle, to advance the glory of his country, finds an harbour which national gratitude has prepared for him.
King William and Queen Mary began this superb establishment, and their successors have raised it to its present state of unexampled munificence, which maintains upwards of two thousand old or disabled seamen, in ease and comfort; and one hundred and forty boys, the sons of sailors, who are instructed in navigation, and bred up for the service of the royal navy.
Its principal revenue arises from a monthly stoppage of sixpence in the pay of all sailors, whether in his Majesty’s or the merchants’ service.
The forfeited estates of the Earl of Derwentwater, and Charles Radcliffe, attainted for rebellion in the year 1/15, which now produce a very great income, with all other lands and estates held in trust for the benefit of the hospital, were, by an act passed in the twenty-sixth year of his present Majesty, vested in the commissioners and governors of it, incorporated by his Majesty’s letters patent.
The principal officers consist of a governor, lieutenant-governor, treasurer, four captains, eight lieutenants, two chaplains, and clerk of the check.
There are also one hundred and thirty nurses, the widows of seamen, to take care of the children, and such pensioners who, from age or infirmity, may require their attendance.
Besides the governors, who consist of the principal nobility and persons in high office, there are twenty-four directors, who are appointed by the Lords of the Admiralty.
The park, which was enlarged, planted, and walled round by Charles the Second, consists of several bold swelling projections, that fall down from Blackheath towards the Thames.
They are finely wooded, and from the upper parts, and particularly from the situation of the observatory, the view possesses a rare combination of magnificent objects.
The eye falls down the verdant slopes to the hospital, which sits in all its pride on the level beneath them; and.
passing over its domes and porticoes, embraces those bold reaches of the Thames, where the fishing-boat, the yacht, and the man of war, are borne on by the tide.

LONDON from Greenwich Park

GREENWICH up the river

Beyond the river is the green flat of the Isle of Dogs, bounded by those populous villages, which may now be considered as the eastern extremities of London, to the right, the prospect presents the woods of Epping Forest, with the high grounds of Woodford and Chigwell; and to the left, a long line of masts conducts the eye to the metropolis, with the hills beyond it.
The royal observatory stands on a swelling prominence in the higher part of the park.
It was erected by order of Charles the Second, who furnished it with the necessary apparatus for astronomical observations, and appointed a professor of astronomy, with an handsome salary, to reside there.
Mr.Flamsted, Doctor Halley, and Doctor Bradley, successively filled this office, and from the first of them the house received the name, by which it is generally distinguished.
It is at present inhabited by the Rev. Doctor Nevil Maskelyne,who was appointed royal astronomer to his Majesty in the year 1765, and has done honour to the appointment.
The town of Greenwich is chiefly built along the bank of the Thames, and the northern side of the park; but the contiguous buildings in the two avenues from it to Blackheath, now extend up to its very brow, the park beautifully filling the intervening space.
This place gave the title of Earl to John Duke of Argyle, who died without male issue.
His daughter first married to lord Dalkeith, and afterwards to the Right Honourable Charles Townshend, was created Baroness Greenwich in the year 1767.
In the time of Henry the Eighth there was a printing-office here, and Doctor Plot mentions his having seen a book printed in that reign at Greenwich.
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the assizes for the county of Kent were held three times at East Greenwich; which also sent two burgesses to the parliament that met at Westminster, in the fourth and fifth years of Philip and Mary.
The river here is broad, and the channel deep.
The opposite shore offers a flat, level peninsula, called the Isle of Dogs, which derives its name from having been the place where the king’s hounds were kept when the court resided at Greenwich.
The magnificent scenery which here presents itself from the water, is not within the reach of our description.
The splendour and beauty of the structure, the park and its woody prominences, crowned by the royal observatory rising behind it, and the town of Greenwich creeping on either side, in the form of villas and elegant buildings, to the very verge of the Heath that bounds the view, form the middle and back-ground of the piece; while the near part of it, which consists of the river, where the fishing-boat, and the sloop, the pleasure yacht, and ships of the largest dimensions are sometimes seen together, complete a picture which we have beheld with that delight and astonishment, that no verbal magic can convey to others.
The river now makes that sudden bend, which, after forming the eastern side of the Isle of Dogs, comes at once to Blackwall, whose docks are so much employed in building ships for the service of the East India Company; and where the homeward bound East Indiamen generally come to their moorings, as they seldom go much higher up the river.
At a small distance below this place, the Lea yields its waters to the Thames.
This river rises in Leagrave Marsh, near Luton in BedLordshire, when after passing through that place, and forming the fine water which heightens the beauty of lord Bute’s park at Luton Hoo, it enters Hertfordshire, and proceeds to the pleasant village of Whethamstead, the birth-place of the learned and pious abbot of Saint Alban’s, to whose taste and liberality his abbey was greatly indebted for that form, whose remains still excite the admiration of the antiquary.
The Lea next adorns the park at Brocket hall, the seat of lord Melbourn ; and after enlivening the proud domain that surrounds Hatfield house, the ancient and magnificent seat of the Marquis of Salisbury, it takes a quiet and retired course along a valley enriched wi(h woods, pastures, and country houses, till it reaches the town of Hertford.
The name of this place the learned and right reverend editor of Camden derives from an hart, as this part of the county formerly abounded in deer: which idea is further justified by the arms of the town, that consist of an hart couchant in the water.
It is a place of great antiquity; and Camden mentions its castle as having been built by the elder Edward, and first enlarged by the Earl of Clare, to whom it appears to have belonged.
It reverted at some subsequent period to the crown, as Edward the Third gave to his son, John of Gaunt, then Earl of Richmond, the castle, town, and honour of Hertford, where, in the language of the grant, “ he might be entertained according to his rank and dignity.” At the survey it had an hundred and forty-six burgesses, and two churches; it afterwards had five, beside the church of the priory, but they are now reduced to their former number.
This castle, in which John King of France, and David King of Scotland were confined together; and where the Duke of Lancaster kept his court on the deposition of Richard the Second ; has, within these few years, been fitted up as a country residence by the late lord Fairford, now Marquis of Downshire in the kingdom of Ireland.
Here is an handsome and spacious building, for the reception of the younger children of Christ’s hospital in London, and who are kept in this schoof till they are of a fit age to be removed to the mother seminary in the metropolis.
In the reign of Henry the Seventh the standard of weights and measures was fixed here; and, in the twenty-fifth and thirty-fifth years of Queen Elizabeth, when the plague raged in London, Michaelmas term was kept here.
This town was incorporated by Queen Mary, but by another charter of James the First, some change was made in its municipal constitution; and it has been since governed by a mayor, aldermen, recorder, and burgesses.
It sent representatives to parliament from the thirty-fifth year of Edward the First, to the early part of the reign of Edward the Third, when the inhabitants petitioned to be exempted from that service, on account of their inability to bear the expence of it; but in the twenty-first year of James the First, the privilege was restored.
Hertford some time gave the title of Earl to the Dukes of Somerset, and now gives that of Marquis to the Conway family.
From this place the Lea winds through a range of meadow ground of about three miles in length, and after having flowed beneath the verdant declivities of Ware park, the seat of Thomas Plummer Byde, Esquire, it reaches the town of Ware, supposed to have derived its name from a kind of dam, called a weir; which is frequently seen to stretch across a river, to aid its navigation, to quicken a mill-stream, or to preserve a fishery; and when the abundance of surrounding waters is considered, this will not appear to be a very hazardous conjecture.
This town has a large market for corn, meal, and malt, which furnishes London with large supplies of those necessary articles.
Near this place is the pretty village of Amwell, which is the subject of one of Mr.Scot's beautiful poems; a man whose genius for poetry broke through the restraint of the religion of the Quakers, in which amiable sect he was born, and whose principles and manners he maintained throughout his life.
But without intending to lessen the character of the native, self-taught poet of the place, it derives a more general importance from possessing the spring, which, augmented by a cut from the Lea, forms the New River, and enables it to supply so large a part of the metropolis with such copious streams of that necessary element.
Sir Hugh Middleton first projected this most useful work; but while the popular hero or patriot of the day receives the honours of the city, no monument is erected to his memory, or honour done to his name, to whom London owes such unspeakable advantages as are derived from the universal plenty of water, which his genius may be said to administer to the greatest part of it.
The concerns of this river are managed by a corporation, consisting of a governor, deputy-governor, treasurer, and twenty-six directors.
The Lea, on leaving Ware, waters a succession of pretty vallies ; when, after receiving the little river Stort, that runs from Bishop's Stortford, so called from being granted by William the Conqueror to the bishops of London, it passes by Stansted Bury and Stansted Abbots, originally belonging to Waltham abbey, and at length reaches the latter place, where a succession of islands, containing a considerable quantity of fine meadow ground, divides the stream into two channels.
Waltham is now a place of little consideration.
The abbey, from whence it derived its distinction, was built in honour of the holy cross, by Harold, son to Earl Godwin, to whom Edward the Confessor gave the village; and this religious house, Harold endowed with West Waltham and sixteen other manors.
Its abbots were mitred and sat in parliament; nor were its revenues inconsiderable, as they amounted at the Revolution to nine hundred pounds per annum.
Henry the Eighth bestowed it, at that period, to Sir Anthony Denny, his groom of the stole, who built an house there.
The church, reduced to the nave, whose style bespeaks it to be of the time of its foundation, is all that now remains of the ancient magnificence of this abbey.
About the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a tomb was discovered on digging in the garden, which has been supposed by some to be the tomb of the founder, and by others, of one of the abbots.
All that is visible of the abbey house is part of a cloister, with the gate and postern, on which are sculptured the arms of England in the time of Henry the Third, who frequently visited this place.
The mansion erected by Sir Anthony Denny, and modernized by Charles Wake Jones, Esquire, was entirely pulled down in the year 1770.
In the gardens is a tulip tree, supposed to be the first brought into England; it is of a very large size, and has of late given the principal consideration to a place, which had been the seat of ecclesiastical magnificence, the asylum of piety, and the retreat of kings.
This place gave a name to a part of the forest of Essex, as it was then called, which reached from the Thames to Hatfield Broad-oak, and from the Lea to Brentwood and Ongar.
Epping Forest, so well known to the inhabitants of London, was a part of it.
On the opposite side of the river is Waltham Cross; so called from the cross built by Edward the First, in honour of his beloved Queen Eleanor, whose corpse, in its way from the north to be interred at Westminster, found one of its many resting places on this spot.
The cross itself still remains in some degree of preservation: it is adorned with Gothic sculpture, and the coats of arms, not only of England, but also of Castile, Leon, and Poictou, are still visible.
The river now takes a winding course through many miles of luxuriant meadows, which form Enfield, Edmonton, Tottenham, and Hackney Marshes.
Those very extended, populous, and opulent villages covering the whole length of the rising ground to the right, while the skirts of Epping Forest, with the pleasant villages of Chingford, Walthamstow, and Layton, occupy a bolder range of upland to the left.
The Lea now proceeds between willowy banks to Stratford le Bow ; so named from its bridge, built by Maud, the queen of Henry the First, and which was the first erected on arches in this kingdom.
Here, after turning a great variety of mills, and supplying the manufactories and bleaching grounds on its banks with water, it takes but a short passage to the Thames.
The canal, from this part of the river Lea to Limehouse, was mentioned as we passed the banks of that place.
The northern side of the Thames, in this part of it, consists of those marshes which are known by the names of Plaistow, East Ham, and Barking Levels ; we shall therefore return to the opposite shore, which is so much more interesting, from the artificial as well as natural circumstances of it.
A succession of bold, undulating ground appears from Greenwich to Woolwich, with a flat marshy bottom towards the river.
Between these places is the village of Charlton, which stretches along, and enriches the declivity.
The manor house is a large and ancient structure, crowned with turrets.
The cypress trees before it are supposed to be the oldest in England ; and behind the house is a large garden, and a small park.
It was built by Sir Adam Newton, Baronet, tutor to Prince Henry, eldest son of James the First, and is now the property of Sir Thomas Spenser Wilson, Baronet.
This place, as its situation might naturally suggest, is not without its elegant villas, among which those of Mr. Angerstein and Mr.Peters may be particularly distinguished, as combining the beauty of ground and the elegance of garden with the grandeur of the Thames and its naval magnificence.
But though the prospect from these places is of a very striking and peculiar effect, the objects do not unite in such a manner as to form subjects for the pencil; and repeated efforts to embellish this work with a representation of the scenery of Charlton were found to be in vain.

WOOLWICH

To the rich and rising banks, covered by that pleasing village, succeeds the town of Woolwich, in the Domesday-book called Hulviz, or the dwelling on the creek of a river.
The records of succeeding periods mention it under the title of Wulewick, and afterwards Woolwiche.
In ancient times it appears to have been nothing more than a small fishing town, which was probably owing to the lowness of its situation, and the frequent inundations to which it was subject, till it was secured by embankments.
It is now a populous market-town; though it has derived all its consequence and increase from the yards and works erected here, for the naval and ordnance service.
At high water, the Thames is near a mile over, and on a flood the water is salt; and as the channel lies direct east and west for about three miles, the tide runs very strong, and the river is entirely free from shoals and sands, having seven or eight fathoms water, so that the largest ships may, at all times, ride here in safety.
Among the patent rolls in the Tower are many commissions, issued in the reign of Henry the Third, and in the succeeding ones, for the overseeing and repairing the breaches, walls, ditches, etc, in divers places and marshes between Greenwich and Woolwich, which are now under the management of the commission of sewers, whose power extends from Lombard’s wall to Gravesend bridge.
The church, which was included in the fifty churches directed to be built by act of parliament in the reign of Queen Anne, is an handsome structure with a tower, and being situated on an eminence above the town, is an ornamental object.
But the consideration and importance of Woolwich arises from its docks and arsenals.
It is the most ancient of these magazines of our national strength and glory, and has furnished our country with most of its largest ships during the course of several reigns.
In the first year of Queen Mary, the Great Harry, a ship of a thousand tons, was burned here.
In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, new docks and launches were erected here, and places prepared for the building and repairing ships of the largest size, on account of its broad channel and depth of water.
Strype, in his Annals, mentions that on the third day of July, 1559, Queen Elizabeth attended the launch of a very fine ship, called after her majesty.
In the year 1637, the Royal Sovereign was built in this dock, which from its size, its equipment, and decorations, was then considered as the glory of the nation, and the wonder of the world.
Of this extraordinary vessel, an account was published in the year of its construction, by T.Haywood the comedian, who was employed in contriving the devices that adorned it.
According to this curious description, “ she was one thousand six hundred and thirty-seven tons burthen, besides tonnage; one hundred and twenty-eight feet long, and forty-eight feet broad: from the fore end of the beak-head to the after end of the stern, one hundred and fifty-two feet; from the bottom of the keel to the top of the lantern, seventy-six feet.
She had five lanterns, of which the biggest would hold ten persons, standing upright; three flush-decks, a forecastle, half-deck, quarter-deck, and roundhouse.
The lower tier had sixty ports, the middle one thirty, the third twenty-six, the forecastle twelve, half-deck fourteen, and as many more within, besides ten pieces of chase ordnance forward, and ten right aft, as well as many loop-holes in the cabin for muskets.
She had also eleven anchors, one of which weighed four thousand four hundred pounds.
This royal ship was curiously carved and gilt with gold; and the Dutch, from the slaughter and havock her cannon made among them, called her the golden devil.
The dock yard and buildings connected with it, are suited in size and convenience to the great objects in which they are employed.
As at Deptford, here is no resident commissioner; the whole being under the immediate inspection of the navy-board, which appoints officers for the government of tins yard.
Here is a rope-walk, where cables are made for first-rate ships; and on the eastern or lower part of the town is the gun-yard, commonly called the Park, which contains every kind of ordnance, and all the stores necessary for its service, in quantity and arrangement, that excites an equal degree of astonishment and admiration.
There is both a civil and military branch of the office of ordnance established at Woolwich.
The former is conducted by a storekeeper, assisted by several clerks, who have their particular departments, with subordinate officers and servants.
The latter is under the direction of a chief engineer, who ranks as colonel, two directors, who rank as lieutenant-colonels, four sub-directors, who have the rank of majors, witli subordinate engineers.
The Warren, where artillery of all kinds and dimensions are cast and proved, is subject also to this department; as well as the laboratory, charged with making up cartridges, charging bombs, carcases, See.
for the public service.
A royal academy is also established at Woolwich, under the government of the board of ordnance, for the education of young gentlemen in the science of enginery and fortification, and the concomitant branches of military tactics.
They are called cadets, and are appointed by the board.
The accomplishments of the soldier are also considered, as well as professional erudition and practical knowledge, and masters are appointed for that purpose.
A part of the parish of Woolwich lies on the opposite shore; but is nevertheless included in the county of Kent.
Though the cause of this disunion cannot be absolutely ascertained, it may be reasonably supposed to have arisen from the river being diverted by some violent flood from its ancient channel.
It has also been conjectured that Haimo, vice-comes, or sheriff, of this county in the time of the Conqueror, being possessed of Woolwich on this side of the river, as well as the lands adjoining to it on the other side, procured them either by composition, or grant from the king, to be annexed to his jurisdiction, as part of this county, with which he incorporated them.
Harris, in his History of Kent, mentions his having seen an old manuscript which states, that the parish of Woolwich had, on the Essex side of the Thames, five hundred acres of land, some fewer houses, and a chapel of ease.
One house is still seen there, and is called the Devil's House: it is all that remains of a mansion formerly belonging to the family of Devall, whose name has suffered no unnatural corruption from the seafaring characters to whom it presents itsell.
Near this place we passed the hulks, where a considerable number of convicts were employed in heaving ballast for a certain term of years, according to the sentence pronounced on their respective offences.
The scenery of the river in this part of it, is rather calculated to astonish by the peculiarity and grandeur of its objects, than to delight by any native charms.
The Essex shore consists of a succession of marshy levels, to which the herds of cattle that are sometimes seen to pasture on them cannot give more than a momentary attraction.
The river itself, covered with vessels of various forms, and in as many directions, will sometimes afford detached groups of naval objects, at once pleasing and picturesque ; while the enormous ships on the stocks, that present themselves, in various states of progression, to the water which is one day to receive them; and all the apparatus that such an arsenal as Woolwich offers, are considered more by the mind than the eye, and produce a more impressive effect, on the reflection of our national grandeur, strength, and security, than as objects to adorn or enrich a picture.
Shooter's hill, however, which rises in the back ground, and is a bold, prominent feature of this part of the county of Kent, continues to bound a very near horizon for a long stretch of the river.
This hill, which is eight miles from London, and not more than two in a direct line from the Thames, is situate in the north-eastern extremity of the parish of Eltham; and may be supposed to derive its name from having been formerly chosen by archers as a place of exercise.
Here Henry the Eighth and his Queen Catharine are related to have come, in great splendour, from Greenwich, on May-day ; when they were received by two hundred archers, all clad in green, with one personating Robin Hood as their captain; who, after having shewed the king the skill of his archers, in their excellent shooting, conducted the ladies into the wood, where they were entertained with wine and venison, in green arbours and pavilions, adorned with sylvan decorations, and accompanied by pageants; the whole being conducted in a manner suitable to the gallantry of that luxurious court.
The road from London to Dover passes over Shooter’s hill, from whose summit the view possesses all the charms of variety, beauty, and magnificence.
A bold but winding length of the Thames stretches on either way beneath it, enriched by those numerous vessels, which every flowing or returning tide brings to, or bears from, our commercial metropolis: the woods of Essex rise in the northern distance; to the west, London is a superb object, with the country beyond it; the brow of Erith rises to the east, and the southern prospect embraces a home view of fine, woody, varied country, interspersed with villas and villages, which continues to those more distant parts that unite with the counties of Surrey and Sussex.
In a field, on the north side of the western ascent of this hill, a plan was formed, a few years since, for building a large town; and a small number of houses were erected and finished; but the inability of the persons who engaged in this undertaking frustrated the design.
In this part of the river it receives an influx from Barking creek, which is navigable for small vessels to the town of the same name, and is formed by the Roding, a small river that rises within a few miles of Dunmovv in Essex, and, after giving a name to several villages through which it winds its little stream, at length reaches Onear, an ancient market-town; “ where, on an hill, ’ says Camden, “ are the remains of a castle built by Richard Lucy, chief justice of England under Henry the Second; which since the time of our learned antiquarian has fallen into decay, and been entirely removed.
From hence it takes a sequestered course through several places of humble name, and.
after watering the villages of Woodford and Chigwell, so well known for the country residences of the opulent citizens, it passes Wansted, a place of similar character, and forms the water in the fine gardens of Wansted house, the magnificent and beautiful mansion of the late Sir James Tilney Long, Baronet, who died as this page was preparing for the press.
He inherited this noble place from his uncle the late Earl of Tilney, and to a posthumous infant of the last possessor it now belongs.
It was erected in an early part of the present century, after a design of Colin Campbell, whose architectural character demands no other encomium than that this edifice, which is not excelled, nor perhaps equalled, by any similar structure in Europe, was the work of his genius.
On quitting this place, where it spreads into considerable breadth, and assumes an ornamental form, the stream returns to its native state, and passes, in a gentle rivulet to Ilford, a village on the road from London to Harwich, where a bridge crosses it.
From thence it proceeds to Barking, a market-town, but chiefly inhabited by fishermen.
A nunnery, which is said to have been the most ancient in this kingdom, was built here by Erkenwald, bishop of London, in the latter part of the seventh century.
Its revenues at the dissolution amounted to eight hundred and sixty-two pounds.
Of this religious house a gateway still remains.
At this place the Roding unites with Barking creek, which has been already mentioned, and completes its course in the Thames.
The Essex shore continues to present a continuation of marshy flats.
In the year 1707, the violence of the tide made a breach on this bank of the river of one hundred yards wide, and twenty feet deep, by which alarming accident one thousand acres of rich land in Dagenham Level were overflowed, and near one hundred and twenty acres of land washed into the Thames, forming a sand-bank near a mile in length, that extended over one half of the channel.
After several unsuccessful attempts, Captain Ferry (who had been employed in similar works by the Czar Peter, in Russia), at an enormous expence, and with great difficulty, completed a wall, behind which there stil remains a pool of fifty acres, from whence the earth had been washed away.
In carrying on these embankments there were discovered, about four feet under the surface of the earth, great numbers of trees, with roots, boughs, and some part of the bark, which may he supposed to have been thrown down and buried by storms and floods.
They were principally brush-wood, willows, and yew, with some oak and horn-beam.
Large quantities of hazel-nuts have also been found here, and horns of stags of uncommon dimensions.
The dull unvarying appearance of the Essex side of the river forms a striking contrast to the uplands of Plumstead, which rise from the marshes of the Kentish shore in various pleasing hills and woody inequalities; to which succeeds the high ground above the village of Erith.
This place, whose name is derived from the Saxon word Erre-hythe, or old harbour, consists of a small street which leads to the water side, where it lies open to the haven which the river forms for it.
The homeward bound Indiamen frequently come to an anchor before this place, to be lightened of a part of their cargo, that they may proceed with greater safety up the river.
Erith is mentioned by Lambard to have been anciently a corporate town, but from what king it acquired that privilege, or when and from what cause it ceased to enjoy it, does not appear to be known.
In the church of this parish, and in the seventeenth year of King John, a treaty was held between several commissioners appointed by that monarch, and Richard Earl of Clare and others on behalf of the discontented barons, respecting a peace between the king and them: for which purpose the latter had a safe conduct, dated the ninth day of November in that year.
In the year 1544, Henry the Eighth being to embark for France, took his journey from his palace at Westminster by water to this place, “ where he lay,’ says Rymer, “ that night, being the eleventh day of July: on the morrow he departed by water to Gravesend, and there dined ; and then took his horse to Faversham.
The next morning, being the thirteenth of July, the king rode from thence to the house of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, called Forde, near Canterbury, and there dined; and then rode the same night to Dover.
Erith is denominated Lesnes in several ancient records; but the latter was no more than a manor in Erith parish, which acquired a local consideration from an abbey of regular canons of the order of Saint Augustin.
This religious house was founded and endowed by Richard de Lucy, chief justice of England in the year 1178, who, in the following year quitted his high station to take upon him the habit of a canon in it; in which situation he soon after died.
The abbot was summoned to parliament in the forty-ninth year of Henry the Third, and the twenty-third of Edward the First; but not after the reign of Edward the Third.
It was valued at one hundred and eighty-six pounds per annum, when it was suppressed among the lesser monasteries in 1524.
At the distance of about a mile westward from Erith church, on the heath, called Lesnes heath, is Belvedere house, the seat of lord Eardley.
It was purchased of the Baltimore family by Sampson Gideon, Esquire, the father of the present noble possessor, by whom it has been rebuilt.
Its collection of pictures are well known, and in high estimation; and the view from it among the most extensive on the banks of the Thames.
The pleasure grounds are managed with a very judicious attention to their situation, and, on the extremity of them, towards Erith, there is a tower which commands a very beautiful prospect of the windings of the Thames, and a distant view of those ever varying objects which are furnished by its stupendous navigation.
Erith, with its church, is seen over the trees in the fore-ground; on the left of the first reach of the river is Purfleet; and to the right over Erith is the village of Greenhithe, with a considerable length of water stretching on before it.
In the distance is perceived the little town of Grays on the Essex shore, and beyond it, a faint view of those circumstances that mark the position of Gravesend.

PURFLEET ERITH & LONG REACH

On another of these heaths that surround Erith, called Northumberland heath, is the manor house, which was lately rebuilt in a very elegant manner by Mr.Wheatley, to whom it belongs, and commands very fine views both up and down the river.
On entering that part of the Thames below Erith, called Long Reach, the Darent offers its waters to the parent stream.
This river, called in the Saxon charters latent, rises above, and waters, the beautiful park at Squeries, the seat of John Warde, Esquire, near the little market-town of Westerham in Kent; it then passes through that place, and, after receiving the accession of a small stream that falls down in a fine cascade from a shaggy precipice in Hill park, the charming residence of Mr.Cotin, it continues a slender, undeviating course to the village of Blasted, where it skirts the beautiful grounds of Blasted Place, the seat of Doctor Turton; who has displayed a very fine taste in the arrangement and disposition of his verdant domain; where he occasionally retires to preserve and invigorate that health which enables him to continue the ministry of his superior skill to others, and the exertion of those cheering attentions, which always aid the prescription of the physician, and often prove the most effectual remedy that he can offer.
The little stream next enters the parish of Sundrish, and heightens the beauties of Coomb Bank, the admired seat of lord Frederick Campbell.
From thence it takes its course through the woody scenery that surrounds the house of Mr.Polhill at Chepstead, and passes on to Riverhead, an hamlet in the parish of Sevenoke, which contains Montreal, the elegant and pleasing seat of lord Amherst.
Here the road to Tunbridge crosses it over a bridge, when it takes a northerly course to Otford, remarkable for the remains of a palace formerly belonging, with very large surrounding demesnes, to the archbishops of Canterbury, and which Archbishop Cranmer passed away to Henry the Eighth, in the twenty-ninth year of that king.
It then runs by New house, the seat of the family of the Borrets, to Shoreham, which once had a castle, whose ruins are mentioned by Leland, but which are no longer visible, and proceeds to Lullingstone park, the seat of Sir John Dyke; when it appears in an enlarged and ornamental form to enrich the scenery of that beautiful place.
The ruins of Eynsford castle are next reflected in the transparent stream, which soon reaches Farningham, where it passes beneath a brick bridge of four arches, and continues its course to the village of Horton, where the remains of another castle dignify its banks: it then proceeds to the village of Darent, to which it gives a name; and after turning the wheels of mills of various denominations, it reaches the town of Dartford, when it assumes the appellation of Dartford Creek, which is navigable for small craft; and, after receiving an accession of water from the river Cray, that gives a name to many neighbouring villages, it loses itself in the Thames.
Dartford is a market-town, through whose principal street the road passes from London to Dover.
In the year 1590 , the first slitting mill was set up in England on the banks of the Darent in this parish, by Godfrey Box, a native of Leige in Germany.
Sir John Spilman, whose remains are interred in the church, is said to have erected the first paper mill known in this country, in this place, some time in the reign of Queen Elizabeth: but the town of Hertford contests this honour, and appears to possess a priority in the establishment of a paper manufactory in Britain.
Dartford gives the title of Viscount to the Earls of Jersey.
On the Essex side of the Thames, and almost opposite to the mouth of the Darent, is Purfleet, which contains very large public magazines of gunpowder, and whose chalk quarries serve to enliven for a moment the flat, inanimate shore on which it is situated.
A rapid tide now bore us along the whole extent of Long Reach, with the low shore of Essex on one side, and Dartford Marshes on the other, beyond which the eye is relieved by the elevated and shady grounds of Ingress.
At the extremity of Long Reach on the Kentish side, is Greenhithe, an hamlet in the parish of Swanscombe.
It contains several wharfs for the landing and shipping of corn, coals, and other commodities; but its principal traffic arises from the chalk and lime which is dug and made from the range of chalk hills that take their rise within a small distance of the river:— with these articles this little place not only supplies the metropolis and its adjacent counties, but exports them to several maritime parts of the kingdom.
Here is a ferry across the Thames into Essex for horses and cattle, which anciently belonged to the priory of Dartford.
The chalk rocks belonging to this place give a promise of something romantic, considered as landscape features; but a little examination will prove to the painter, that they are incapable of being worked up into any picturesque subject for the pencil.
Ingress, which owes a succession of improvements to its successive proprietors, the late Earl of Hillsborough, the late Mr.Calcraft, and its present possessor D.Roebuck, Esquire, is a part of this hamlet.
The house, which was receiving great additions at the time when we visited the spot, is placed on the upper part of the grounds, that slope from the chalk rocks towards the Thames.
But, with all the apparent properties of landscape in the view from this charming spot, it was altogether impracticable, as at Belvedere, to unite the house with the river.
On the top of the rocks, which rise among thick groves, a walk leads to a summer-house, from whence the prospect up the river is an exact reverse of the view down it, from Belvedere: the latter place being the principal feature in the distance on the left; while Pm fleet is seen on the right, and Grays immediatelv beneath, with the river taking its reversed form in the centre.
From Greenhithe the river makes a bend, which is called Saint Clement's Reach, to the market-town of Gray’s Thurrock, on the Essex shore; it then turns to the right, forming that part of Lhe river known by the name of the South Hope, which bounds a marshy peninsula on the Kentish side, and soon washes the banks of Northfleet, to which parish it forms a northern boundary.
The name of this place is derived from its situation on a small fleet or arm of the Thames, which flows on its western extremity.
It is mentioned in Doomsday-book under the title of Northfleet, and was part of the ancient possessions of the archbishops of Canterbury.
This parish was once contributory, with others in its neighbourhood, to the repair of the ninth arch or pier of Rochester bridge.
The marshes here are frequently overflowed at spring tides, and Phillipot, who made his collections in the early part of the last century, for an historical survey of Kent, mentions it as a very general report in his time, that the valley through which the stream or fleet flows, and is called by him Ebbs Fleet, was once covered with water, and being locked in on each side by hills, made a secure road for shipping; which induced the Danes to employ it as a winter station for their navy: nor, when we consider the small size of their vessels, and the circumstances of the tide, does this conjecture appear improbable.
Chalk and lime are articles of considerable trade here, as well as on the neighbouring shore of Greenhithe, which not only extends to the metropolis and the coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk, but to Flanders and Holland.
The chalk cliffs of this place have acquired a very singular and romantic form from The various directions in which they have been cut and excavated ; and the naturalist also has found in them an abundant reward for his researches.
Nor is this all : their excavations have opened a space where docks have been formed for the buildin<>- frigates as well as ships, for the service of the East.
India Company; and where others might be contrived for the construction of the largest ships of war in the service of Great Britain.
rhe church of Northfleet, which stands on the south side of the village, is a spacious structure, and contains the fragments of several ancient monuments, some of which appear to have been erected at so early a period as the fourteenth century.
This place once had a market, which was held on every Tuesday, from Easter till Whitsuntide, but has long been discontinued.

GRAVESEND

To North fleet soon succeeds the town of Gravesend, a place of considerable consequence on the Thames, being the first port on the river, and, of course, immediately connected with the universal navigation of it.
This place, whose name is derived, both by Lambarde and Leland, from the Saxon word Gerefa, signifying a ruler or portreve (in the German greve), is mentioned in the great survey as part of the large possessions of Odo, bishop of Bayeux, Earl of Kent, and half brother to William the Conqueror.
In the year 1377, Richard the Second directed his writs to the sheriffs of Kent and Essex, commanding them to erect certain beacons, on each side of the river Thames, opposite to each other, which were to be kept in a constant state of preparation, and to be lighted on the first approach of any hostile vessels; but notwithstanding this precaution, the town was soon afterwards plundered and burned by the French, who sailed up the river in their gallies, and carried away the greater part of the inhabitants prisoners.
To enable the place to recover this loss, Richard the Second granted to the abbot and convent of Saint Mary Grace in London, that the inhabitants of Milton and Gravesend should have the sole privilege of carrying passengers by water to the metropolis; which has been confirmed by several succeeding kings; and at length, under proper regulations, by the legislature itself.
Queen Elizabeth, by her letters patent, dated the tenth year of her reign, graciously confirmed to Gravesend and Milton all their former privileges, and further incorporated those parishes, by the name of the portreve (since changed into the title of the mayor), jurats, and inhabitants of the parishes of Gravesend and Milton.
The same illustrious queen, consulting the honour and grandeur of the nation, and in particular of the city of London, ordered the lord mayor, aldermen, and the several companies, to receive, in their formalities, all strangers of high distinction, and ambassadors, who arrived by water at this place, and to attend them in their barges to the metropolis.
The port of London terminating just below this place, there is an office of the customs established here; and all outward bound ships are obliged to anchor in the road before the town, until they have been visited by the proper officers; but homeward bound ships pass without notice, unless to receive tide-waiters on board.
Among the crowd of vessels that pass by, or make a temporary mooring before this place, are the Dutch turbot-boats, which supply the London market with that delicious fish.
Here is also a ferry, which conveys, and sometimes over a tossing wave, not only horses and cattle, but even carriages, to the Essex shore.
The marshes, which stretch along the banks of the Thames from Lombard's wall, a little below Greenwich to Gravesend bridge, were thought worthy of the attention of the legislature at so early a period of our history as the reign of Edward the First; and have continued, as they necessarily required, to be an object of the public vigilance through almost all the successive reigns to that of James the First, when the last application was made to parliament respecting them; from which time they have been subject to the same rules, orders, and modes of taxation, under the direction of a commission of sewers.
The marsh land from Gravesend bridge to the mouth of the river Medway, and up that river to Penshurst, is also under the jurisdiction of a separate but similar commission, appointed for that purpose.
Gravesend, as an object, has no picturesque character, when separated from the numerous vessels which are at anchor, or in motion, before it.
The place itself is surrounded with gardens, which not only supply the outward bound vessels with vegetables, but add to the abundance of the London markets.
The country indeed rises prettily behind it, ancl is enlivened by a windmill, which is so situated as to serve for a landmark, and consequently commands very extensive views, both up and down the river.
On the opposite shore, and in the front of a large marshy district, is Tilbury Fort, which was first erected in the reign of Henry the Eighth, to protect the upper part of the Thames; and was afterwards formed into a regular fortification, under the direction of Sir Martin Beckman, chief engineer to Charles the Second, with bastions which are said to be the largest in England.
It has a double moat of great breadth, with a counterscarp, covered way, ravelins, and tenailles.
On its platform are mounted one hundred and six cannon, from twenty-four to forty-eight pounders, with smaller ones on its bastions and curtains.
At West Tilbury, in which parish this fortress stands, there are some traces of the camp formed by Queen Elizabeth, when her kingdom was threatened with the boasted Armada of Spain.
At this place also was discovered in the year 1727, a medicinal water, which, according to Doctor Andree, who published a treatise on its virtues, is the only alterative water of its kind in this part of England.
Adjoining to Gravesend, and within its liberty, is the parish of Milton.
It is called in Doomsday-book and other ancient records, Meletune, and Melestun, and derives its name from being midway between Gravesend and the village of Chalk; a place now so well known for producing the best gun-flints in this kingdom, or perhaps in Europe.
Milton is recorded to have been among the vast possessions of Odo, Bishop of Baieux and Earl of Kent, and half brother to the Conqueror.
The eastern part of the town of Gravesend is in this parish; and there the assizes for the county of Kent were frequently held, in the reigns of James the First and the unfortunate Charles.
We now enter that part of the river called the Hope, the southern side of which is formed by Gravesend and Milton marshes, with those of Higham and Cliffe, and the hundred of Hoo, which, including the island of Grean, is a peninsula formed by the Thames and the Medway.
The Essex shore, in the language of Camden, “ is a succession of low unhealthy grounds, till the river separates from it an island, anciently called Convennos, and by Ptolemy Counos, and still retains the name of Convey Island.
It is a marshy tract, containing about three thousand five hundred acres, has a chapel, with about fifty houses, and an annual fair.
It is remarkable for the empty cockle-shells that cover the strand, and a long tradition has recorded this peculiar circumstance.
The extreme part of this island is bounded by a branch of the Thames called Leigh Road, on whose opposite bank is placed a stone, that marks the boundary of the conservatorial jurisdiction of the city of London, on the Essex shore.
Leigh, which gives a name to this arm of the river, is a place much frequented by boys and small craft, and affords a road for shipping.
At the distance of a few miles, on the coast of the river, is South End; a village which is acquiring importance from the fashionable rage after what are denominated Watering Places; and where a new town is rising for the accommodation of those who find health from the salt-water bath, or enjoy pleasure from the amusements which crowd around it.
The woody character of the adjacent country; the vast breadth of the river before it, with its magnificent navigation, and the mouth of the Medway, forming a luminous break on the Kentish shore, compose a scene which at once charms and interests the beholder.
But we must now, for a short time, quit the Thames, and proceed to trace the sources, describe the course, and relate the circumstances, of the chief of its tributary streams.
The river Medway, or Medwege, was named Vaga by the ancient Britons, to which the Saxons added the syllable med, signifying in their language, mid or middle, because it ran through the middle of the kingdom of Kent, and called it, in their language, Medweg, which has long been changed into its present title.
It has four principal heads, or sources; one of which rises near Blechingly, in the county of Surrey; and, being augmented by several small rivulets, runs on to Edenbridge in Kent; from thence it passes by Hever castle, the seat of that amiable and benevolent man, the late Sir Timothy Waldo, and flows on to Penshurst; where it is increased by the conflux of the second principal source, which rises at Graveley in Sussex, and, after a devious and retired course, proceeds by Groombridge and Ashurst to the main stream.

PENSHURST

Penshurst, which possesses somewhat of historical character, and never fails, from the incidental circumstances attached to it, to inspire a sentimental interest, derives its name from the British word pen.
signifying summit, and hurst, a wood.
In several ancient records it is called Pencestre, probably from some fortress which may have been erected on the spot.
It is a village that derives all its distinction from the ancient, stately, and dignified mansion, called Penshurst Place.
In the reign of the Conqueror, it was the residence of a family who took its name; and in the time of Edward the First, we find that it belonged to Sir Stephen de Peneshuste, or Pencestre, who was knighted, and made constable of Dover castle, and warden of the Cinque Ports, by Henry the Third.
It was afterwards, in the reign of Edward the Second, conveyed to John de Pul- teney, who, under Edward the Third was four times lord mayor of London : and is mentioned by Stow as pre-eminent for his piety, wisdom, great wealth, and magnificent hospitality.
After being possessed by many noble and distinguished persons, it was at length forfeited to the crown, in the reign of Edward the Sixth, by the attainder of Sir Ralph Fane, and was granted by that king to Sir William Sidney, knight, and his heirs; a very distinguished person, and who had acquired great military reputation in the preceding reign.
On his death, the estate devolved to his son, Sir Henry Sidney, who had been bred up with Edward the Sixth from his infancy; by whom, as well as by Queen Elizabeth, he was very much cherished and advanced.
On his death, Penshurst Place devolved to his eldest son, Sir Philip Sidney, the most gallant and accomplished gentleman of his age, and whose extraordinary qualities were not only the universal admiration of his own times, but will command an enthusiastic homage, as long as great talents, superior learning, undaunted courage, and unblemished virtue are venerated by mankind.
The house is a large irregular pile, ornamented with towers and embattled parapets.
Its principal entrance is through a large portal, with a tower over it, and, above the gate, an inscription records that the manor of Penshurst, etc was given by Edward the Sixth to Sir William Sidney, knight banneret, chamberlain of his household: and that the tower was built in the year 1.585, by Sir Henry Sidney, knight of the garter, as a grateful memorial of his sovereign’s bounty.
The principal buildings form a spacious, irregular, and gloomy quadrangle.
The great hall, though apparently neglected, is one of the most curious parts of this edifice, and has a remarkable roof raised on the shoulders of some large images, in a manner equally singular and grotesque.
From the hall there is an ascent to a spacious vaulted gallery, having at the upper end a Gothic arch with three steps, each formed of a single piece of timber, much worn; from whence a flight of stairs leads, on either hand, to the principal apartments by a communication which is now closed.
Many of the rooms were fitted up by the late Mr.Perry, who possessed this estate by marriage with the honourable Elizabeth Sidney, niece to the late Earl of Leicester.
In one wing of the house is a large picture gallery, in which is seen the portrait of Lady Dorothy Sidney, the Sacharissa of Waller; but it does not display those charms, which may be supposed to have awakened the lyre of that tender and elegant poet.
The environs of this ancient mansion, though somewhat diminished, still appear in a fine park of six miles in circumference; which is washed by the Medway, and rises behind the house in sylvan grandeur.
Among its native ornaments is still seen the oak.
which tradition represents as having been planted at the birth of Sir Philip Sidney; and which Ben Jonson represents as:

That taller tree, which of a nut was set,
At his great birth, where all the Muses met

but its state and condition seem to establish it of an earlier age.
This venerable tree is a grand and picturesque object: at three feet from the ground it measures twenty-five feet eleven inches in the general circumference, and its longest branch projects thirty-six feet from the trunk.
Though it has been so far excavated by time as to possess a seat in its hollow which will hold three or four persons, it is, with the exception of a few branches, well covered with foliage.
In this park (a mark of great antiquity, as well as of pious respect to the place, in the long succession of its possessors) there still exists an heronry, and perhaps the only one in the kingdom.
In Popish times the breed of herons was very much encouraged, and a colony of them was generally an appendage to the seats of persons of wealth and distinction; as this bird, which feeds only on fish, is allowed as canonical food, on the days of abstinence from flesh, in the Roman Catholic church.
In a deep hole in the Medwey, called Tupner’s Hole, near the lower end of Penshurst park, there rises a spring which produces a visible and strong ebullition on the surface of the river.
The son of Mr.Shelley, of Horsham in Sussex, by the surviving daughter of Mr.Perry, and who has taken the name of Sidney, is the present possessor of this fine place, and ancient property.
From Penshurst the Medway takes a short course to Tunbridge; but before it arrives there, is increased by two rivulets from the north.
It then separates, and crosses that town near its southern extremity, in five channels, over which there are as many bridges.
The southmost of them was anciently the main stream of the Medway, but that, which was dug to form the inner moat of the castle, is now the only navigable branch of the river; and in the year 1775, an elegant stone bridge of three arches was built over it, at the expence of the county, after a design of Mr.Mylne.

TUNBRIDGE CASTLE

Tunbridge is a market-town, and derives its name from the bridges built over the several streams that water it.
In former times, this place consisted of little more than the suburbs of the castle, and, being situated between its two outer moats, partook of all the vicissitudes of this eminent fortress, in the several sieges which it sustained.
The houses which at present form this town are mostly built on each side of the high road, leading from London to Tunbridge Wells, and to Rye in Sussex.
The castle, whose ruins still interest the antiquarian and sentimental traveller, was built, in the reign of William Rufus, by Richard de Clare.
From the Clares it came, with its manorial rights and appendages, to Hugh Audley, Earl of Gloucester; and, by his only daughter, to the Earls of Stafford, afterwards Dukes of Buckingham; and from them, by attainder, to the crown in the reign of Henry the Eighth.
Edward the Sixth granted it to John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, afterwards created Duke of Northumberland, who made an exchange of it with the crown for other estates.
By Queen Mary the castle and manor were given to Cardinal Pole, and, on his death, reverted to the crown; when they were granted by Queen Elizabeth to lord Hunsdon.
At length, after various other inheritances, these ancient premises were sold, in the year 1739, to John Hooker, Esquire, of Tunbridge; of whose family the castle, with some contiguous grounds, were lately purchased by Mr.Woodgate of Somerhill, an ancient and venerable seat near this place.
The walls of the castle formerly inclosed six acres of ground, but the present remains consist of little more than the inner gateway, and part of the walls, with the keep or dungeon; which, however, are sufficient to prove it to have been a place of strength and importance.
There is now attached to it, with less taste than convenience, a modern building, the habitation of the present owner of the castle, with a small lawn before it, surrounded by a gravel-walk and shrubbery.
At a small distance below it, is a spacious wharf, which generally displays a great quantity of large oak timber, brought from the wealds of Kent and Sussex, to be conveyed down the Medway to the docks of Chatham and Sheerness.
This river is not navigable above Tunbridge, and the navigation of it from thence to Maidstone is private property, and subject to the direction of a committee of proprietors.
Between these towns there are no less than fourteen locks, and below the latter of them, the river receives the advantage of the tide.
Tunbridge formerly possessed the privilege of sending members to parliament, though there appears but one example of their having availed themselves of it; which was in the twenty-third year of Edward the First.
It gave the title of Baron to Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, in the reign of Henry the Eighth ; that of Viscount to Richard Burgh, Earl of Clanrickard in Ireland, in the reign of James the First; and since to the Fails of Rochfoid, with whom it continues at this day.
From this place the Medway flows on with a considerable accession of water to Brand bridge, a very picturesque object, in the parish of East Beckham ; which, with the rills that cross the neighbouring meads, and their wooden bridges of different forms, enlivens and varies the tranquillity of the surrounding scene.
After passing Twiford bridge, an ancient Gothic structure, the river flows on to Yalding, where it is increased by two streams, which form its third and fourth principal heads.
The first of them rises at a place called Hockenbury Panne, in Waterdown forest, in the county of Sussex, and runs on by Bayham abbey, and Lamberhurst.
The source of the other is near Goldwell, in the parish of Great Chart in this county, and takes its course by Romeden, Smarden, Hedcorne, and Hunton, to the main stream.
From Yalding the Medway flows on to Nettlested, whose rich pastures furnish the London market with some of its finest cattle.
The house, which was a magnificent mansion in the reign of Edward the Third, is now a ruin, and its remains are employed as a kiln for drying the hops that grow around it.
The river then passes on by Watringbury, so called from its low situation, to Teston, where it flows beneath a stone bridge of seven arches; which, with the winding water, presents a very pleasing object to the handsome seat of Mrs. Bouverie.
The stream then divides the villages of West Farleigh and Banning, the latter of which offers, in its wooden bridge and pointed spire, two objects that heighten the picturesque character of the surrounding scene.
East Farleigh, the next place refreshed by the Medway, presents another, though a different landscape, in which a church and a bridge are the principal features.
After a winding course of about four miles, the river reaches the town of Maidstone.
The country through which the Medway passes from Tunbridge is full of that beauty which arises from gentle inequalities, enriched with woods, pastures, and various cultivation.
Its rich meadows and fertile fields, intermixed with orchards and hop-grounds, have caused this part of the county to be called the Garden of Kent.

MAIDSTONE

Maidstone is situated on a knoll, in the midst of a well wooded and finely cultivated country, watered in every part of it by the river or the rill.
In Doomsday-book it is written Meddestune, and was part of the ancient possessions of the see of Canterbury, as appears from the general survey at the Conquest.
It was formerly governed by a portreeve and twelve brethren; and continued so till Edward the Sixth reincorporated the town, by the style and title of the Mayor, Jurats, and Commonalty of the borough of Maidstone; which municipal character it has enjoyed, with certain short interruptions.
to the present time.
It sends members to parliament, and has possessed that privilege since the sixth of Edward the Sixth.
The church, that stands in the western part of the town on a bank of the Medway, is a large, handsome Gothic building, erected in 1396, by Archbishop William de Courteney, with an handsome dome, which supported a spire covered with lead, of eighty feet in height, till 1730, when it was destroyed by lightning.
Beside it, is a part of the archiepiscopal palace, forming an handsome dwelling house, the property of lord Romney.
There are also some remains, consisting principally of a Gothic gateway, of All Saints college, founded by the same excellent and pious prelate, and of which the parish church was originally a part.
At a small distance from the bridge, a chapel or refectory, with three sides of a cloister, form the remains of a religious house belonging to the ancient fraternity of Corpus Christi, founded, as it is described in ancient records, by divers honest inhabitants of the town.
It was, with its chantry, suppressed in the first year of Edward the Sixth; when its revenues were valued at the clear yearly rent of forty pounds and eight pence.
Maidstone consists principally of four streets, intersecting each other at the market-cross; which is an octagon building, used as a fish-market, and was formerly called the Corn Cross, having been employed as a corn-market, till the upper court-house was built for that purpose, about the year 1608.
The ornament from whence this ancient structure derives its name has long been removed: but whether by the hand of time, or puritanic zeal, we could not learn.
The town is washed on its western side by the Medway, over which there is a stone bridge of seven arches, supposed to have been built by some of the archbishops of Canterbury, who were Lords of the manor.
A small branch of the river runs through the southern part of the town, and joins the main stream at a small distance, northward of the palace.
Maidstone, from its centrical situation, has long been considered and employed as the county town; and the court-house where the assizes are held is a very spacious and handsome building.
Here is a manufactory of thread, which was introduced by the Walloons in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, at the time they fled from the persecution of the Duke D’Alva, and took refuge in this country, which has so often given, as it still continues to give, an asylum to the distressed of other nations.
The soil adjoining to the town and its neighbourhood is peculiarly suited to the culture of hops; and the prosperity of the place is greatly indebted to this branch of agriculture.
The hop, which was introduced into England about the time of the Reformation, is said to have been first cultivated in this part of Kent.
But, besides the surrounding hop-grounds, the general fertility of the adjacent country adds to the commerce of this town, by its grain and its fruits: while various mills for grinding corn, or manufacturing paper, and the large quantities of timber furnished by the wealds of Kent, increase the value of those cargoes, which the river Medway bears to Rochester and Chatham, to the upper banks of the Thames, and the more distant metropolis.
Maidstone is an ancient borough by prescription, which has been confirmed by several charters.
The first account extant of the names of burgesses returned for it, is in the sixth year of Edward the Sixth.
It has also given the title of Viscount to the Earls of Winchelsea, since the twenty-first year of James the First.
The little river Len, which may indeed be considered as a lesser source of the river itself, here pours its water into the main stream, after having turned the mills belonging to Mr.Whatman ; who has brought paper to a degree of excellence it had never attained in his own country, and which now rivals the boasted produce of foreign manufactory.
At the distance of about two miles from Maidstone is the village of Allington, famous for its castle, whose ruins are still visible on the southern bank of the Medway.
A fortress is related to have been erected on this spot by the Saxons, and afterwards destroyed by the Danes.
It was a part of the vast possessions granted by the Conqueror to his brother-in-law Odo, bishop of Baieux; and after the disgrace of that prelate, William Earl of Warren, in Normandy, received a grant of the manor, and rebuilt the castle.
They are now become the property of lord Romney.
A very small remaining part of this ancient structure is used as part of an adjoining farm house, which appears to have been built from the dilapidations of a mansion erected by Sir Thomas Wyat, a very distinguished ornament of the reign of Henry the Eighth, and who was some time possessor of this manor.
The Medway continues its course, and soon divides the parish of Aylesford; where it flows beneath an handsome stone bridge of six arches.
The sudden rise of the ground on the eastern side of the v illage, with the church situated on the summit, affords no small addition to the picturesque character of the scene.
At a small distance to the west is the priory, a seat of the Earl of Aylesford, but now commonly called the Friars, and which enriches one of the most beautiful spots on the banks of the river.
This priory was founded in the twenty-fifth of Henry the Third, 1240, by Richard lord Grey of Codnor, for friars Carmelites, being the first foundation of this order in England.
Some parts of it still remain, which are converted into different apartments of the mansion, and the offices belonging to it.
This place gave the title of Earl to Heneage Finch, second son of Heneage the last Earl of Nottingham, which his great grandson now enjoys.
Nor shall it be forgotten, that this village gave birth to Sir Charles Sedley, so well known as a courtly wit, and sprightly poet, of the last century.
On an eminence, about a mile to the north-east of Aylesford, and at a small distance from the high road leading from Rochester to Maidstone, stands a rude monument of antiquity, called Kit's Coty House, or, according to more vulgar pronunciation, Kit’s Cot House; which some have supposed to mean Catigern’s house, a British chief, who is related to have been killed on this spot by Horsa, brother of Hengist, a Saxon general, in a battle fought on the banks of the Medway between the British and Saxon armies.
It is composed of four large stones about eight feet high, which seem to be of the pebble kind: two of them are set in the ground partly upright, forming two sides, and a third stands in the middle of the intermediate space; the fourth, which is the largest, is laid transversely over the others, and more than covers them.
But, after all, antiquarian sagacity does not appear to have settled whether it is a sepulchral monument, or a Druidical altar; whether it was erected to perpetuate the fame of the hero, or to receive the offering prepared for the Deity.
The river now makes a very sudden and bold meander, flowing through banks thickly planted with forest trees, and consequently possessing a wild and very retired appearance.
At the extremity of the bend is New Hythe, an hamlet in the parish of East Mailing; from whence the stream passes on between Burham and Snodland to the ancient village of Woldham, on the western bank of the river: nor is it long before it reflects the ruined walls of Hailing house, which was one of the four stately palaces of the bishops of Rochester, in the reign of Henry the Second.
Bishop Hanno de Heth built the hall, and added a new front to the whole building, in the year 1323.
“ He had here,” as Lambarde expresses himself, “ wine and grapes of his own growth in his vineyard, which is now a good plain meadow.” The hall, part of the chapel, and a gate, were standing in the year 1719.
In the following year, the statue of Bishop Hanno de Heth, in stone, and in his episcopal habit, was blown in a storm of wind from the niche over the chief door; but falling upon the grass, it received no injury, and being preserved by Doctor Thorpe of Rochester, was afterwards presented to the celebrated but unfortunate Doctor Atterbury, while he was bishop of that see.
The river, which is now grown into considerable breadth, next divides the villages of Woldham and Cookstone (in the latter of which was an ancient seat of lord Romney, now dilapidated), and proceeds to the city of Rochester.

ROCHESTER BRIDGE

Rochester was a place of some consideration in the time of (he Romans, on account of its passage over the Medway.
It was denominated by the Britons Durobriva, from the British word dour, water, and the termination briva, which is supposed to signify a bridge or passage over a river.
Antoninus in his Itinerary calls it Durobrivis.
The Saxons named it Hroucceaster, and Leland mentions it under the title of Rozecestre.
At length it varied into the name it now possesses.
William of Malmsbury describes it as “ lying in a valley, surrounded on one side by weak walls, in a very confined situation,” on which account it was originally considered rather as a castle than a cits’; and venerable Bede calls it the Castle of Kentishmen.
It was afterwards enlarged by suburbs, on its northern, western, and southern sides; and felt the destructive effects of those commotions that, during several centuries, disturbed the tranquillity of England.
A considerable part of the ancient walls of Rochester are still standing; and in the north wall are some Roman remains; but the gates have long been demolished.
The castle, whose majestic remains give such an affecting dignity to the banks of the river, is believed to have existed, in some form, at so early a period as the Saxon heptarchy.
It was afterwards very much injured by the Danes, and continued long in a state of neglect, till it was repaired or rebuilt by William the Conqueror.
The area contained a square of three hundred feet, having, at certain intervals, both square and round towers; and in a part of the wall towards the Medway there is a kind of well, which appears to have been contrived for the secret conveyance of provisions from the river.
The walls are seven feet thick, and twenty feet in height, and are surrounded, on three sides, by a ditch.
The great square tower, or keep, of which there are such magnificent remains, is situated in the south-east angle of the area.
It was built in the reign of William Rufus, under the direction of Gundulph, bishop of Rochester, who is represented by the Textus Roffensis, as famous for his skill in masonry, of which this structure is a most eminent example.
It is ninety-three feet in height, and occupies an area of seventy-two feet.
The walls are twelve feet thick, have a square tower at each angle, and, on the north front, a quadrangular projection ; on whose western face is a round arched door, with a staircase, now interrupted, that leads to a vestibule, or guard-room, twenty feet in diameter; beneath which was the dungeon.
From this vestibule, by an inner door, fortified with a portcullis, and having stone seats on each side of it, there is an entrance to the second floor; there having been originally no communication between it and the ground apartment.
From the second floor two staircases, at the east and west corners, led to the two upper floors, which were thirty-two feet square, and sixteen feet in height.
They were the principal apartments, and in their present neglected state, retain an air of magnificence.
A passage continues round the castle in the body of the wall, in some places ascending, and, in others, descending by flights of steps.
The chimnies, instead of a funnel, continued to the top of the tower, have merely a short hollow cone from the fire-places, through the solid wall, terminating in two small slits or apertures.
Within the middle partition, from the top to the bottom, is a curious well of hewn stone, jointed with great neatness, which sinks upwards of three hundred feet below the foundation, and communicates by arches with every story.
There are also a variety of other contrivances, for the safeguard and provision of the castle, that discover the perfection which the military architecture, even of those early times, had attained.
After the introduction of artillery it ceased to be a defensive fortress: it was, however, inhabited in the time of Elizabeth ; as in the statutes then enacted for the better management of Rochester bridge, it was directed that the wardens and assistants should hold their meetings in the castle.
When the antiquity of this building, and the neglected state in which it has so long remained, are considered, it will command the admiration of the architect, as well as the veneration of the antiquary; and heighten the sentiment of the pensive traveller, as he contemplates an object which has so often withstood the destructive storms of war, and so long resisted the corroding power of time.
But this structure, which seems to have predominated over the ordinary powers of demolition and decay, has tottered beneath the mercenary spirit of its modern possessors.
The timber-work of the castle was sold to a person who applied a part of it in building a brewhouse: the stone stairs, as well as the squared stones of the windows and arches, were purchased by certain masons of London; and the rest of the materials were actually offered to a paviour, who, on finding the cement so hard that it could not be separated from the stone-work, without great difficulty and expence, declined the purchase.
The property, or fee-simple of the castle of Rochester, after the reign of Edward the Fourth, rested among the manors of the crown till the time of James the First; who, in the tenth year of his reign, granted it, with all its services, to Sir Anthony Weldon, Knight, of Swanscombe in Kent; since which time it has accompanied the possession of the manor of Swanscombe; and the heir of the late Robert Child, of Osterley park, in the county of Middlesex, who is the lord of that manor, is the proprietor of it.
The cathedral church of Rochester, which was rebuilt by Bishop Gundulph, in the year 1080 , bears the venerable marks of its antiquity: and though it cannot be ranked among the first class of cathedrals in this country, there are parts of it which will reward the attention of those whose researches are directed to the architecture of former centuries.
The body and west front of the church is all that now remains of the work of Bishop Gundulph.
The nave rests on twelve round arches ; whose supporting pillars are irregular, and of a dissimilar form, but crowned with the same capitals.
The west front is composed of round arch-work, extending eighty-one feet in breadth.
The arch of the great door is a most curious piece of workmanship: every stone appears to have been engraved with some device, and, in its original state, must have been equally beautiful and magnificent.
It is supported through the depth of the wall, on each side of the door, by several small columns, two of which are carved into statues, representing Henry the First and his Queen Matilda.
The capitals of these columns, as well as the whole arch, are sculptured with the forms of animals and flowers : the key-stone was designed to represent Christ sitting in a niche, with an angel on each side ; but the principal figure has suffered considerable mutilation : beneath it are twelve figures of similar sculpture, representing the Apostles, some of which are entire.
The choir was built in 1250 , by William de Hoo, prior of Rochester, with offerings collected at the shrine of Saint William.
Its two ailes were erected by two of the monks, from donations obtained by them.
The date of the transepts does not appear.
Of ninety prelates which have governed the see of Rochester, twenty-three have been buried in this church; some of whose tombs are still visible.
Of the chapter-house and cloisters there are no remains but an arched door-way, which communicated with the former, and is enriched with sculptured ornaments and figures.
In the present chapter-house is a library, in which is that well known and curious manuscript, called the Textus Roffensis, compiled chiefly by Bishop Ernulph in the twelfth century.
Nor can we pass by an excellent regulation made by the chapter of this church, for the benefit of their library, by which every new dean and prebend gives a certain sum for the augmentation of it, instead of any initiatory entertainment.
This ancient cathedral is greatly indebted to the dignitaries who compose the present chapter for many judicious reparations already made, as it will hereafter be for others, which are proceeding to completion.
Though we do not find any mention made of a bridge at Rochester before the reign of Henry the First, there is every reason to believe that this city possessed such a convenience previous to that period ; as Bishop Ernulph, who was elevated to this see in the sixteenth year of that reign, and collected the records contained in the Textus Roffensis.
has inserted, among them, several regulations for the maintenance and repairs of Rochester bridge, which appear to have been ancient customs even in his day.
Lambarde, in his Perambulation, confirms this opinion.
From that curious work we learn, that the ancient bridge was made of wood, and consisted of ten arches, whose combined length, united with the piers, was four hundred and thirty-one feet.
It also appears, from the same authority, that towards the maintenance of it, a particular service was attached to certain lands and manors in the circumjacent country.
Upwards of fifty towns, villages, manors, etc were held or possessed by such a tenure; particular arches being appropriated to the care of particular places.
Towards the conclusion of the fourteenth century this bridge, on account of its decayed state, was so chargeable to the owners of the contributory lands, that it became absolutely necessary to erect another; which was accordingly done, and the structure completed in the fifteenth year of Richard the Second.
This is the present bridge, which was long considered as a national ornament, and, till Westminster bridge was erected, held the first rank in that kind of architecture.
Sir Robert Knollis, after having served his country in France with great distinction as a soldier, performed a very noble act as a citizen, by his munificent contributions towards the construction of this bridge: and immediately on its completion, that gentleman and Sir John de Cobham de Kent petitioned parliament that the portions and repairs of the contributory lands should continue, according to the rates therein mentioned; and that they might yearly choose from among themselves two wardens, as had been accustomed, who might receive and purchase lands and tenements to the yearly value of nine hundred marks.
In this petition for the support of the new structure, which was of greater length than the former, it was stated, with great accuracy, in feet, inches, and even in quarters of inches, the proportion of the repairs belonging to each division, according to the former ancient regulations of the contributory lands; for which proportion they are still liable, if the rents of the estates belonging to the body corporate of the bridge should prove insufficient.
The present bridge, whose position is forty yards nearer the castle than the former one, is five hundred and sixty feet in length, and fourteen feet in breadth.
It consists of eleven pointed arches, supported by strong piers secured by sterlings, which narrow the course of the water, and occasion a considerable fall.
But the inconveniences which arise from the narrow passage above, and the rush of waters below, this bridge, will be effectually remedied by the alterations which are now in an advanced state of execution.
At the time of the Conquest, the city of Rochester was governed by a chief magistrate, styled a Provost, “ prapositus,” but was incorporated by Henry the Second, in the twelfth year of his reign.
The privileges granted by that sovereign were occasionally enlarged, or limited, by several of his successors.
The last charter was granted by Charles the First, on the seventh day of August, 1630, which settled the corporation to consist of a mayor, with twelve aider- men, of which the mayor was to be one, twelve assistants, or common council, a recorder, town clerk, and inferior officers.
This city has continued to send two representatives to parliament from the twenty-third year of Edward the First, 1289.
There is an establishment of the customs here, as one of the out-ports, under the direction of a collector, a deputy-comptroller, surveyor, &c.; and of the excise office, under a supervisor, and several inferior assistants.
The oyster fishery, carried on in the several creeks and branches of the Medway, within the liberties of the city of Rochester, is conducted by a company of free-dredgermen, as they are called, under a prescriptive establishment, but subject to the jurisdiction of the mayor and citizens; which has been confirmed by an act of the second year of his late majesty George the Second; empowering them to hold, once or oftener in every year, a court of admiralty, to which the dredgers are summoned; and a jury is appointed from among them, which has the power to regulate the time when the oyster-grounds shall be opened and shut, as well as the quantity of oysters that shall be taken on eacli day of dredging; and also for preserving the brood and spat of oysters, and for otherwise regulating the fishery: they are also empowered to impose fines for the breach of such orders, as have been approved by the mayor and citizens.
Great quantities of these oysters are sent, not only to London, but to Holland, and the nearer parts of Germany.
On the side of the Medway, opposite to Rochester, is the village of Stroud, called, in the Textus Hoffensis, Strodes, part of which is within the jurisdiction of the neighbouring city.
It consists of one principal street, through which passes the high road, leading from Rochester bridge westward towards Gravesend and London.
In this parish is an ancient house, called Temple Farm, situate on the western hank of the Medway, which derives its present name from possessing the site of a noble mansion of the Knights Templars, granted to them by Henry the Second.
Beneath the present building is a large stone vault, which is supposed, and with great probability, to have been a part of the ancient structure.
Its walls are of an uncommon thickness, and appear to have suffered little from the hand of time.
From this spot, the castle and cathedral of Rochester rising on the opposite side of the river, with the bridge stretching across it, and the stream enlivening the whole, are seen at one view, and with rare effect.

ROCHESTER & CHATHAM

To the north of Stroud is the village of Frindsbury, which is situated on a hill that commands the river Medway below Rochester bridge, with that city, Chatham, Brompton, and the hills beyond them; the whole forming a grand and beautiful picture, full of objects which most happily combine with, and illustrate, each other.
This parish skirts the river Medway from Stroud, along the shore opposite Chatham dock, till it unites with the parish of Hoo, about half a mile to the north of Upnor castle.

The next object on the banks of the Medway is Chatham ; whose importance, as a naval arsenal, is too well known to require more than a general history and description.
In Doomsday-book it is written Ceteham, and in the Textus Hoffensis, Caetham.
The place is supposed to derive its name from the Saxon words cyte, a cottage, and ham , a village ; or the village of cottages.
In the time of Edward the Confessor, Chatham was possessed by Godwin, Earl of Kent, on whose death it descended to his eldest son, Harold, afterwards King of England, who was slain at the battle of Hastings; and, in a short time after that event, this estate formed part of the immense property which William the Conqueror gave to his half brother, Odo, bishop of Baieux.
in Normandy, whom he created Earl of Kent.
This place is accordingly entered under the general title of that favoured prelate’s lands in Doomsday-book.
The town of Chatham, the greatest part of which has been built since the time of Queen Elizabeth, adjoins the city of Rochester; and these places, together with Stroud, make one street of two miles in length; the whole forming part of the road from London to Dover.
Chatham occupies about half a mile of the bank of the Medway; and at a short distance from the High-street is the old dock, employed as a repository of royal stores and ordnance.
Beyond it is the royal dock, and on an elevated situation above it, is the village of Brompton, which contains barracks for soldiers, and is defended by an extensive line of fortification.
From this spot is a very commanding view of the Medway, with its naval pride and native scenery, to its conflux with the Thames.
James the First is said to have established the docks and yard at Chatham; though his predecessor Elizabeth had already made dockyards for shipping at this place.
Charles very much improved and enlarged his father’s plan ; and Charles the Second took a personal view of it, but without any attention to its further improvement; a neglect which, about seven years afterwards, he had sufficient reason to lament; when the Dutch Admiral de Ruyter, anchored at the Nore with fifty sail of ships, and dispatched his Vice-Admiral Van Ghent, with seventeen of his lightest ships, and eight fire-ships, up the Medway, to destroy the dock, and navy riding in the river.
This enterprize he too successfully executed; for, in spite of the utmost exertions of the famous General Monk, then Duke of Albemarle, who hastened to Chatham on the occasion, a strong easterly wind and spring tide, brought the enemy on with such resistless force, that the chain laid across the river was broken, and three large Dutch prizes, lately taken, and placed to guard the chain, were burned by them; together with the Royal Oak, a British first rate, and several other vessels.
The enemy also destroyed two men of war, called the Loyal London, and the Great James, and returned, with a small comparative loss, triumphant to the Nore.
This disaster, at once so astonishing and disgraceful to the British nation, produced the effect of securing the Medway from future incursions of a similar nature.
The dockyard ranges along the eastern bank of the river, for near a mile in length; and contains a magnificent apparatus for building and completing the largest ships of war employed in the British navy.
Among its many spacious storehouses is one of six hundred and sixty feet in length.
In these magazines are deposited immense quantities of rigging, hemp, flax, pitch, tar, rosin, and every other article necessary for the building and equipping ships' of war; the whole of which is in such a regular state of arrangement, as to be procured with instant readiness, and without the least confusion.
Nor can the regularity and expedition of the naval business in this dockyard be better exemplified, than by recurring to the well known circumstance, that a first-rate man of war is frequently equipped there for sea in a few weeks.
The loft, which contains the manufacture of sails, is two hundred and nine feet in length : one of the storehouses, in which masts are deposited, is two hundred and thirty-six feet long, and one hundred and twenty feet wide: the rope-house occupies a range of eleven hundred and forty feet; and the smiths’ shop for forging anchors and other naval implements, contains twenty-one fires.
There are four docks in this yard for repairing ships, and six slips for building new ones; from which have been launched the Victory, the new Royal George, and the Royal Charlotte, first-rate ships of war; and at the moment when this page was preparing for the press, the Ville de Paris, armed with one hundred and ten guns, was here completed for service.
The ordnance wharf, which exhibits an amazing and fearful display of naval artillery and hostile stores, is situated to the south of the dockyard.
In short, to give at once an adequate idea of this stupendous scene of naval preparation, it may be added, that in time of war, the various skill and important labours of three thousand persons are employed in it.
The business of this yard is transacted by a commissioner, who has three clerks under him; a clerk of the cheque, a storekeeper, a master shipwright, a clerk of the survey, and two master attendants; two master shipwrights’ assistants, a master caulker, a clerk of the ropeyard, a master of the ropeyard, and numerous inferior officers.
The fund called the Chest at Chatham, (he produce of which is regularly appropriated to the relief of wounded saifors, was first planned by Sir Francis Drake, and Sir John Hawkins, Knight, in the year 1588, after the defeat of the Spanish Armada; when the seamen of the royal navy voluntarily agreed to advance a certain proportion oT their pay, towards the support of their distressed brethren.
This noble institution has been continued, with the best effects, anti the encouragement of the legislature, to the present time.
Chatham gave the title of Baron to John Duke of Argyle, in the fourth year of the reign of Queen Anne; and on July the thirtieth, 1766, it first gave the title of Earl to that great man, and preeminent minister, William Pitt.
On the opposite side of the river, and situated on the very edge of it, is Upnor castle, which, being backed by trees and high woody banks, becomes a picturesque object.
It is a stone building, and was erected by Queen Elizabeth for the defence of the Medway; but is at present employed as a powder magazine, for the use of the navy.

VIEW from Upnor

Below Chatham is the village of Gillingham, which affords very fine and commanding views of the river that flows before it.
The castle, which was built in the reign of Charles the First, is now in a very neglected state; and the only remains of its ancient archiepiscopal palace are employed as the outhouses of a farm.
On the west end of the church is a niche, that once contained a statue of the Blessed Virgin, denominated our Lady of Gillingham, which very much attracted the pilgrims of a former century.
On the opposite shore, at a small distance from Upnor castle, a stone appears as a boundary mark to the jurisdiction of the city of London on the Medway.
It was erected in the year 1771, during the mayoralty of Brass Crosby, Esquire, to supply the decay of a similar memorial, which bore the date of 1204, with a votive inscription of “ God preserve the city of London.”

The river now passes between a length of low marshy shores, broken by islands, which appear to have been formed by the power of the tide.
The hundred of Hoo stretches along the northern side, till the north Yenlade, or inlet, divides it from the island of Grain.
This stream, which forms a communication between the Thames and the Medway (being called the North Yenlade at its junction with the former, and the Drag at its opening into the latter), once afforded a passage for vessels; but was suffered to be choked up, according to the tradition of the country, to prevent its being serviceable to the contraband trader.
In its present state, however, a very considerable salt-work has been established on its eastern bank, as a commodious situation.
On the opposite side of the river, and about three miles from its entrance, is Stangate Creek; where a regular quarantine is appointed for all ships on their arrival from the Levant, and other places liable to infectious diseases.
We now approach the Island of Shepey, which is separated from the rest of Kent by an arm of the sea that communicates with the Medway.
This spot was called by the Saxons Sceapige, or Ovinia , signifying the island of sheep, from the numerous flocks which found pasture on it.
It is about thirteen miles in length, and six in breadth, rich in grass land, and, on the northern side, fertile in corn.
It is destitute of woodland, but pleasantly divided by luxuriant hedge-rows.
The water which flows between the island and the main land, is called the Swale; and the two extremities of it, the East and West Swale.
It appears to have been formerly considered as a part of the river Thames ; when it was the common, as being the safest, passage for shipping between London and the North Foreland.
The Island of Shepey was, from its peculiar situation, much exposed to the depredation of those nations who, in ancient times, infested this kingdom; and the Danes gene- rally landed there in their hostile visits to Britain.
On the lower, or southern part of the island, there are many tumuli, supposed to be the graves of the Danish chieftains.
Of the seven parishes which it contains, the principal are Minster and Queenborough.
The latter is a borough town, near the western mouth of the Swale, and at no great distance from the Medway, whose inhabitants consist, almost altogether, of oyster dredgers and fishermen.
Camden describes it as, in his time, possessing an handsome and strong castle, erected by Edward the Third, to quote his royal words, in a pleasant situation, to the terror of the enemy, and the relief of his people; to which he added a town, and, in honour of his Queen Philippa of Hainault, called it Queenborough.
The same monarch, by a charter in the year 1366, created it a corporation, to consist of a mayor.
bailiff, and burgesses: lint it does not appear to have sent members to parliament before the thirteenth year of Elizabeth.
The materials of this castle were sold, by order of government, in the time of the commonwealth; and the moat that surrounded it, with an ancient well, alone remains to mark the place where it stood.
This well, being bored by order of the commissioners of the navy, in the year 1729, above eighty feet below its original bottom, yielded excellent water, which, in eight days, rose one hundred and seventy-six feet; and is, by computation, one hundred and sixty-six feet below the deepest part of the adjacent seas.
Minster, which is the principal parish in the Island of Shepey, possesses an elevated situation on the north side of it, commanding a magnificent view of that wide expanse of water where the Thames loses itsell in the sea.
This place derives its name from the monastery which was founded there between the years 664 and 673, by Sexburga, one of the daughters of Annas, King of East Anglia, for seventy-seven nuns.
King Egbert patronized the institution, and Sexburga became the first abbess.
But, after many changes, to which these institutions have been subject in common with less pious foundations, it was dissolved in the twenty-seventh year of Henry the Eighth, among the lesser religious houses; when its revenues amounted to no more than one hundred and twenty-nine pounds, seven shillings, and eleven pence.
A gateway, connected by a wall with the parish church, is all that remains of this monastery.

We now proceed to Sheerness, whose fort and battery form a very adequate defence to the mouth of the Medway.
It is a vill[sic], in the parish of Minster, consisting of several streets, and is situate on the north-west point of the Island of Shepey.
It was but a small fortress in the reign of Charles the Second; and, on the breaking out of the Dutch war, that monarch was so anxious to have it erected into a royal fortification, as to make two journies thither, in the winter of the year 1677, to forward that design.
Little, however, appears to have been accomplished, as the enemy’s fleet made its memorable entrance into the Medway in the summer of the same year.
That disgraceful event occasioned so great an alarm in the nation, for the safety of the royal docks and magazines at Chatham, as well as for the royal navy itself, which had already received such material injury, that the fort of Sheerness was immediately enlarged into a regular fortification; and has since been so judiciously augmented and strengthened, as to defy any attempts of the most formidable fleet to pass it.
The fort and garrison are under the command of a governor, lieutenant-governor, fort major, and other inferior officers.
Within a few years after the erection of this fortification, a royal dock was formed and established beside it, for the repair of ships which have met with any sudden accident, and for building small ships of war; though some of large dimensions have been launched from it.
This yard is subject to the jurisdiction of the commissioner residing at Chatham.
Sheerness offers nothing picturesque in itself; but the rivers which it commands, and the various vessels in motion, or moored, before it, compose a scene that may interest the painter as well as the politician.
Here the Thames receives the waters of the Medway, after a course of sixty miles, and flowing on with an accelerated rapidity, soon delivers itself to the sea.
Thus have we concluded a voyage, in which we have seen a very large and predominant portion of the native beauty, the private taste, the public magnificence, the general wealth, the universal commerce, and unrivalled prosperity of our country.
END OF VOLUME THE SECOND.