2. That none be taken in under seven years old.

3. That none be taken in but orphans, wanting either father or mother,

or both.

4. That no foundlings, or that are maintained at the parish charge, be

taken in.

5. That none who are lame, crooked, or deformed, or that have the evil,

rupture, or any infectious disease, be taken in.

6. That none be admitted but such as are without any probable means of

being provided for otherways; nor without a due certificate from the

minister, churchwardens, and three or four of the principal inhabitants

of the parish whence any children come, certifying the poverty and

inability of the parent to maintain such children, and the true age of

the said child, and engaging to discharge the hospital of them before or

after the age of fifteen years if a boy, or fourteen years if a girl,

which shall be left to the governor’s pleasure to do; so that it shall be

wholly in the power of the hospital to dispose of such child, or return

them to the parent or parish, as to the hospital shall seem good.

7. That no child be admitted that hath a brother or sister in the

hospital already.

8. To the end that no children be admitted contrary to the rules

abovesaid, when the general court shall direct the taking in of any

children, they shall (before taken in) be presented to a committee,

consisting of the president, treasurer, or the almoners, renters,

scrutineers, and auditors, and all other governors to be summoned at the

first time, and so to adjourn from time to time: and that they, or any

thirteen or more of them, whereof the president or treasurer for the time

being to be one, shall strictly examine touching the age, birth, and

quality of such children, and of the truth of the said certificates; and

when such committee shall find cause, they shall forbid or suspend the

taking in of any child, until they receive full satisfaction that such

child or children are duly qualified according to the rules abovesaid.

And that such children as may be presented to be admitted in pursuance of

the will of any benefactor, shall be examined by the said committee, who

are to take care that such children be qualified according to the wills

of the donors or benefactors (as near as may consist with such wills)

agreeing to the qualifications above.

The Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen present each their child yearly, but

the rest of the governors only in their turns, which may happen once in

three or four years.

No child is continued in after fifteen years of age, except the

mathematical scholars, who are sometimes in till they are eighteen, and

who, at the beginning of the seventh year of their service as mariners

are at His Majesty’s disposal; and of these children there is an account

printed yearly, and presented to the king the 1st of January, setting

forth, (1) each boy’s name; (2) the month and year when they were bound

out; (3) their age; (4) the names of their masters; (5) the names of the

ships whereof they are commanders; (6) what country trade they are in;

(7) the month and year when they will be at His Majesty’s disposal. Also

an account of the forty children annually enjoying the benefit of this

mathematical foundation, &c., setting forth their names and age.

The governors, besides the Lord Mayor and aldermen, are many, and

commonly persons that have been masters or wardens of their companies, or

men of estates, from whom there is some expectation of additional

charities. Out of these one is made president, who is usually some

ancient alderman that hath passed the chair; another is appointed

treasurer, to whom the care of the house and of the revenues are

committed, who is therefore usually resident, and has a good house within

the limits of the hospital. There are two governors also, who are called

_almoners_, whose business it is to buy provisions for the house and send

them in, who are attended by the steward.

The children are dieted in the following manner: They have every morning

for their breakfast bread and beer, at half an hour past six in the

morning in the summer time, and at half an hour past seven in the winter.

On Sundays they have boiled beef and broth for their dinners, and for

their suppers legs and shoulders of mutton. On Tuesdays and Thursdays

they have the same dinners as on Sundays, that is, boiled beef and broth;

on the other days no flesh meat, but on Mondays milk-porridge, on

Wednesdays furmity, on Fridays old pease and pottage, on Saturdays

water-gruel. They have roast beef about twelve days in the year by the

kindness of several benefactors, who have left, some £3, some 50s. per

annum, for that end. Their supper is bread and cheese, or butter for

those who cannot eat cheese; only Wednesdays and Fridays they heave

pudding-pies for supper.

The diet of these children seems to be exceeding mean and sparing; and I

have heard some of their friends say that it would not be easy for them

to subsist upon it without their assistance. However, it is observed

they are very healthful; that out of eleven or twelve hundred there are

scarce ever found twelve in the sick ward; and that in one year, when

there were upwards of eleven hundred in this hospital, there were not

more than fifteen of them died. Besides, their living in this thrifty

parsimonious manner, makes them better capable of shifting for themselves

when they come out into the world.

As to the education of these orphans, here is a grammar-school, a

writing-school, a mathematical-school, and a drawing-school.

As to grammar and writing, they have all of them the benefit of these

schools without distinction; but the others are for such lads as are

intended for the sea-service.

The first mathematical school was founded by King Charles II., anno

domini 1673. His Majesty gave £7,000 towards building and furnishing

this school, and settled a revenue of £370 per annum upon it for ever;

and there has been since another mathematical school erected here, which

is maintained out of the revenues of the hospital, as is likewise the

drawing-school.

This hospital is built about a large quadrangle, with a cloister or

piazza on the inside of it, which is said to be part of the monastery of

the Grey Friars; but most part of the house has been rebuilt since the

Fire, and consists of a large hall, and the several schools and

dormitories for the children; besides which there is a fine house at

Hertford, and another at Ware, twenty miles from London, whither the

youngest orphans are usually sent, and taught to read, before they are

fixed at London.

The College of Physicians is situated on the west side of Warwick Lane.

It is a beautiful and magnificent edifice, built by the society anno

1682, their former college in Amen Corner having been destroyed by the

Fire. It is built of brick and stone, having a fine frontispiece, with a

handsome doorcase, within which is a lofty cupola erected on strong

pillars, on the top whereof is a large pyramid, and on its vertex a crown

and gilded ball. Passing under the cupola we come into a quadrangular

court, the opposite side whereof is adorned with eight pilasters below

and eight above, with their entablature and a triangular pediment; over

the doorcase is the figure of King Charles II. placed in a niche and

between the door and the lower architrave the following inscription,

viz.:—

VTRIVSQVE FORTVNÆ EXEMPLAR INGENS ADVERSIS REBVS DEVM PROBAVIT PROSPERIS

SEIPSVM COLLEGIJ HVJUSCE, 1682.

The apartments within consist of a hall, where advice is given to the

poor gratis; a committee-room, a library, another great hall, where the

doctors meet once a quarter, which is beautifully wainscoted, carved, and

adorned with fretwork. Here are the pictures of Dr. Harvey, who first

discovered the circulation of the blood, and other benefactors, and

northward from this, over the library, is the censor’s room.

The theatre under the cupola at the entrance is furnished with six

degrees of circular wainscot seats, one above the other, and in the pit

is a table and three seats, one for the president, a second for the

operator, and a third for the lecturer; and here the anatomy lectures are

performed. In the preparing room are thirteen tables of the muscles in a

human body, each muscle in its proper position.

This society is a body-corporate for the practice of physic within

London, and several miles about it. The president and censors are chosen

annually at Michaelmas. None can practise physic, though they have taken

their degrees, without their license, within the limits aforesaid; and

they have a power to search all apothecaries’ shops, and to destroy

unwholesome medicines.

By the charter of King Charles II. this college was to consist of a

president, four censors, ten elects, and twenty-six fellows; the censors

to be chosen out of the fellows, and the president out of the elects.

By the charter granted by King James II., the number of fellows was

enlarged, but not to exceed eighty, and none but those who had taken the

degree of doctors in the British or foreign universities were qualified

to be admitted members of this college.

The fellows meet four times every year, viz., on the Monday after every

quarter-day, and two of them meet twice a week, to give advice to the

poor gratis. Here are also prepared medicines for the poor at moderate

rates.

The president and four censors meet the first Friday in every month. The

Lord Chancellor, chief justices, and chief baron, are constituted

visitors of this corporation, whose privileges are established by several

Acts of Parliament.

22. Bread Street Ward contains Bread Street, Friday Street, Distaff

Lane, Basing Lane, part of the Old Change, part of Watling Street, part

of Old Fish Street, and Trinity Lane, and part of Cheapside.

The only public buildings in this ward are the churches of Allhallows,

Bread Street, and St. Mildred, Bread Street.

23. Queenhithe Ward includes part of Thames Street, Queenhithe, with the

several lanes running southward to the Thames, Lambeth Hill, Fish Street

Hill, Five Foot Lane, Little Trinity Lane, Bread Street Hill, Huggin

Lane, with the south side of Great Trinity Lane, and part of Old Fish

Streets.

Queenhithe lies to the westward of the Three Cranes, and is a harbour for

barges, lighters, and other vessels, that bring meal, malt, and other

provisions down the Thames; being a square inlet, with wharves on three

sides of it, where the greatest market in England for meal, malt, &c., is

held every day in the week, but chiefly on Mondays, Wednesdays, and

Fridays. It received the name of Queenhithe, or harbour, from the duties

anciently paid here to the Queens of England.

24. Baynard’s Castle Ward contains Peter’s Hill, Bennet’s Hill, part of

Thames Street, Paul’s Wharf, Puddle Dock, Addle Hill, Knightrider Street,

Carter Lane, Wardrobe Court, Paul’s Chain, part of St. Paul’s Churchyard,

Dean’s Court, part of Creed Lane, and part of Warwick Lane.

The public buildings in this ward are Doctors’ Commons, the Heralds’

Office, the churches of St. Bennet, Paul’s Wharf, St. Andrew, Wardrobe,

and St. Mary Magdalen, Old Fish Street.

Doctors’ Commons, so called from the doctors of the civil law commoning

together here as in a college, is situated on the west side of Bennet’s

Hill, and consists chiefly of one handsome square court. And here are

held the Court of Admiralty, Court of Arches, and the Prerogative Court

of the Archbishop of Canterbury. Near the Commons are the Prerogative

Office and Faculty Office.

The Heralds’ College or office is situated on the east side of Bennet’s

Hill, almost against Doctors’ Commons. It is a spacious building, with a

square court in the middle of it, on the north side whereof is the

Court-room, where the Earl Marshal sits to hear causes lying in the court

of honour concerning arms, achievements, titles of honour, &c.

25. The Ward of Farringdon Without includes Ludgate Hill, Fleet Street

and Fleet Ditch, Sheer Lane, Bell Yard, Chancery Lane, Fetter Lane, Dean

Street, New Street, Plough Yard, East and West Harding Street,

Fleur-de-Lis Court, Crane Court, Red Lion Court, Johnson’s Court,

Dunstan’s Court, Bolt Court, Hind Court, Wine Office Court, Shoe Lane,

Racquet Court, Whitefriars, the Temples, Dorset or Salisbury Court,

Dorset Street, Bridewell, the Old Bailey, Harp Alley, Holborn Hill,

Castle Street or Yard, Cursitor Alley, Bartlett’s Buildings, Holborn

Bridge, Snow Hill, Pye Corner, Giltspur Street, Cow Lane, Cock Lane,

Hosier Lane, Chick Lane, Smithfield, Long Lane, Bartholomew Close, Cloth

Fair, and Duck Lane.

West Smithfield—or, rather, Smoothfield, according to Stow—is an open

place, containing little more than three acres of ground at present, of

an irregular figure, surrounded with buildings of various kinds. Here is

held one of the greatest markets of oxen and sheep in Europe, as may

easily be imagined when it appears to be the only market for live cattle

in this great city, which is held on Mondays and Fridays. There is also

a market for horses on Fridays; nor is there anywhere better

riding-horses to be purchased, if the buyer has skill, though it must be

confessed there is a great deal of jockeying and sharping used by the

dealers in horseflesh. As for coach-horses, and those fit for troopers,

they are usually purchased in the counties to the northward of the town.

The famous fair on the feast of St. Bartholomew also is held in this

place, which lasts three days, and, by the indulgence of the City

magistrates, sometimes a fortnight. The first three days were heretofore

assigned for business, as the sale of cattle, leather, &c., but now only

for diversion, the players filling the area of the field with their

booths, whither the young citizens resort in crowds.

The public buildings in this ward are Bridewell, Serjeants’ Inn in Fleet

Street, the Temple, the Six Clerks’ Office, the Rolls, Serjeants’ Inn in

Chancery Lane, Clifford’s Inn, the House of the Royal Society, Staple’s

Inn, Bernards’ Inn, and Thavie’s Inn, Justice Hall in the Old Bailey, and

the Fleet Prison, with the churches of St. Bartholomew, and the hospital

adjoining, the churches of St. Sepulchre, St. Andrew, Holborn, St.

Bride’s, and St. Dunstan’s-in-the-West.

Bridewell is situated on the west side of Fleet Ditch, a little to the

southward of Fleet Street, having two fronts, one to the east, and the

other to the north, with a handsome great gate in each of them. It

consists chiefly of two courts, the innermost being the largest and best

built, four or five storeys high, on the south side whereof is a noble

hall, adorned with the pictures of King Edward VI. and his Privy Council,

King Charles, and King James II., Sir William Turner, Sir William

Jeffreys, and other benefactors.

It was one of the palaces of the Kings of England till the reign of King

Edward VI., who gave it to the City of London for the use of their poor,

with lands of the value of 700 marks per annum, and bedding and furniture

out of the Hospital of the Savoy, then suppressed.

Here are lodgings and several privileges for certain tradesmen, such as

flax-dressers, tailors, shoemakers, &c., called art masters, who are

allowed to take servants and apprentices to the number of about 140, who

are clothed in blue vests at the charge of the house, their masters

having the profit of their labour. These boys having served their times,

have their freedom, and ten pound each given them towards carrying on

their trades; and some of them have arrived to the honour of being

governors of the house where they served.

This Hospital is at present under the direction of a president, and some

hundreds of the most eminent and substantial citizens, with their

inferior officers; and a court is held every Friday, where such vagrants

and lewd people are ordered to receive correction in the sight of the

Court, as are adjudged to deserve it.

Among the public buildings of this ward, that belonging to the Royal

Society, situate at the north end of Two Crane Court, in Fleet Street,

must not be omitted, though it be much more considerable on account of

the learned members who assemble there, and the great advances that have

been made by them of late years in natural philosophy, &c., than for the

elegancy of the building.

During the grand rebellion, when the estates of the prime nobility and

gentry were sequestered, and there was no court for them to resort to,

the then powers encouraging only the maddest enthusiast, or the basest of

the people, whom they looked upon as the fittest instruments to support

their tyranny; some ingenious gentlemen, who had applied themselves

chiefly to their studies, and abhorred the usurpation, proposed the

erecting a society for the improvement of natural knowledge, which might

be an innocent and inoffensive exercise to themselves in those

troublesome times, and of lasting benefit to the nation. Their first

meeting, it is said, were at the chambers of Mr. Wilkins (afterwards

Bishop of Chester) in Wadham College, in Oxford, about the year 1650, and

the members consisted of the Honourable Robert Boyle, Esq., Dr. Ward

(afterwards Bishop of Salisbury), Sir Christopher Wren, Sir William

Petty, Dr. Wallis, Dr. Goddard, and Dr. Hook (late Professor of

Geometry), the above-named Bishop Wilkins, and others. In the year 1658

we find them assembling in Gresham College, in London, when were added to

their number the Lord Brounker (their first president), Sir Robert

Murray, John Evelyng, Esq., Sir George Ent, Dr. Croon, Henry Shingsby,

Esq., and many others. And after the Restoration, his Majesty King

Charles II. appeared so well pleased with the design, that he granted

them a charter of incorporation, bearing date the 22nd of April, 15

Charles II., anno 1663, wherein he styled himself their founder, patron,

and companion; and the society was from thenceforward to consist of a

president, a council of twenty, and as many fellows as should be thought

worthy of admission, with a treasurer, secretary, curators, and other

officers.

When a gentleman desires to be admitted to the society, he procures one

of the Corporation to recommend him as a person duly qualified, whereupon

his name is entered in a book, and proper inquiries made concerning his

merit and abilities; and if the gentleman is approved of, he appears in

some following assembly, and subscribes a paper, wherein he promises that

he will endeavour to promote the welfare of the society: and the

president formally admits him by saying, “I do, by the authority and in

the name of the Royal Society of London for improving of natural

knowledge, admit you a member thereof.” Whereupon the new fellow pays

forty shillings to the treasurer, and two-and-fifty shillings per annum

afterwards by quarterly payments, towards the charges of the experiments,

the salaries of the officers of the house, &c.

Behind the house they have a repository, containing a collection of the

productions of nature and art. They have also a well-chosen library,

consisting of many thousand volumes, most of them relating to natural

philosophy; and they publish from time to time the experiments made by

them, of which there are a great number of volumes, called “Philosophical

Transactions.”

The Hospital of St. Bartholomew, on the south side of Smithfield, is

contiguous to the church of Little St. Bartholomew. It was at first

governed by a master, eight brethren, and four sisters, who had the care

of the sick and infirm that were brought thither. King Henry VIII.

endowed it with a yearly revenue of five hundred more yearly for the

relief of one hundred infirm people. And since that time the hospital is

so increased and enlarged, by the benefactions given to it, that it

receives infirm people at present from all parts of England. In the year

1702 a beautiful frontispiece was erected towards Smithfield, adorned

with pilasters, entablature, and pediment of the Ionic order, with the

figure of the founder, King Henry VIII., in a niche, standing in full

proportion; and the figures of two cripples on the pediment: but the most

considerable improvements to the building were made in the year 1731, of

the old buildings being pulled down, and a magnificent pile erected in

the room of them about 150 feet in length, faced with a pure white stone,

besides other additions now building.

There are two houses belonging to this hospital, the one in Kent Street,

called the Lock, and the other at Kingsland, whither such unfortunate

people as are afflicted with the French disease are sent and taken care

of, that they may not prove offensive to the rest; for surely more

miserable objects never were beheld, many of them having their noses and

great part of their faces eaten off, and become so noisome frequently,

that their stench cannot be borne, their very bones rotting while they

remain alive.

This hospital is governed by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, with about

three hundred other substantial citizens and gentlemen of quality, who

generally become benefactors; and from these and their friends the

hospital has been able to subsist such numbers of infirm people, and to

perform the surprising cures they have done; for the patients are duly

attended by the best physicians and surgeons in London, and so well

supplied with lodging and diet proper to their respective cases, that

much fewer miscarry here, in proportion, than in the great hospital of

invalids, and others the French so much boast of in Paris.

Those that have the immediate care of the hospital are, the president,

the treasurer, the auditors of accounts, viewers of their revenues,

overseers of the goods and utensils of the hospital, and the almoners,

who buy in provisions and necessaries for the patients.

A committee, consisting of the treasurer, almoners, and some other of the

governors, meet twice a week to inspect the government of the house, to

discharge such persons as are cured, and to admit others.

26. Bridge Ward Without contains in chief the Borough, or Long

Southwark, St. Margaret’s Hill, Blackman Street, Stony Street, St.

Thomas’s Street, Counter Street, the Mint Street, Maiden Lane, the

Bankside, Bandy-leg Walk, Bennet’s Rents, George Street, Suffolk Street,

Redcross Street, Whitecross Street, Worcester Street, Castle Street,

Clink Street, Deadman’s Place, New Rents, Gravel Lane, Dirty Lane, St.

Olave’s Street, Horselydown, Crucifix Lane, Five-foot Lane, Barnaby

Street, Long Lane and Street.

The Bankside consists of certain houses so called from their lying on the

south bank of the Thames to the westward of the bridge.

The public buildings in this ward are, St. Thomas’s Church and Hospital,

Guy’s Hospital for Incurables, the church of St. Saviour, the church of

St. Olave, and that of St. George, the Bridge House, the King’s Bench

Prison, the Marshalsea, and the Clink Prison, the Sessions House,

Compter, and New Prison.

The Hospital of St. Thomas consists of four spacious courts, in the first

of which are six wards for women. In the second stands the church, and

another chapel, for the use of the hospital. Here also are the houses of

the treasurer, hospitaller, steward, cook, and butler. In the third

court are seven wards for men, with an apothecary’s shop, store-rooms and

laboratory. In the fourth court are two wards for women, with a surgery,

hot and cold baths, &c. And in the year 1718 another magnificent

building was erected by the governors, containing lodgings and

conveniences for a hundred infirm persons. So that this hospital is

capable of containing five hundred patients and upwards at one time; and

there are between four and five thousand people annually cured and

discharged out of it, many of them being allowed money to bear their

charges to their respective dwellings.

But one of the greatest charities ever attempted by a private citizen was

that of Thomas Guy, Esq., originally a bookseller of London, and

afterwards a Member of Parliament for Tamworth, who, having acquired an

immense fortune, founded a hospital for incurables, on a spot of ground

adjoining to St. Thomas’s Hospital, and saw the noble fabric in a good

forwardness in his lifetime, assigning about two hundred thousand pounds

towards the building, and endowing it, insomuch that it is computed there

may be an ample provision for four hundred unhappy people, who shall be

given over by physicians and surgeons as incurable. This gentleman died

in December, 1724, having first made his will, and appointed trustees to

see his pious design duly executed. He gave also several thousand pounds

to Christ’s Hospital, and a thousand pounds a piece to fifty of his poor

relations; but the will being in print, I refer the reader to it for a

more particular account of this noble charity.

The first church and hospital, dedicated to St. Thomas à Becket, was

erected by the Prior of Bermondsey, so long since as the year 1013; but

the hospital was refounded, and the revenues increased, anno 1215, by

Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester, in whose diocese it was situated,

continuing, however, to be held of the priors of Bermondsey till the year

1428, when the Abbot of Bermondsey relinquished his interest to the

master of the hospital for a valuable consideration. In the year 1538

this hospital was surrendered to King Henry VIII., being then valued at

£266 17s. 6d. per annum. And in the following reign, the City of London

having purchased the buildings of the Crown, continued them a hospital

for sick and wounded people; and King Edward VI. granted them some of the

revenues of the dissolved hospitals and monasteries towards maintaining

it: but these were inconsiderable in comparison of the large and numerous

benefactions that have since been bestowed upon it by the Lord Mayor,

aldermen, and other wealthy citizens and men of quality, governors of it,

who are seldom fewer than two or three hundred, every one of them looking

upon themselves to be under some obligation of making an addition to the

revenues of the hospital they have the direction of. A committee of the

governors sit every Thursday, to consider what patients are fit to be

discharged, and to admit others.

The government of the City of London, it is observed, resembles that of

the kingdom in general; the Lord Mayor is compared to the king, the

aldermen to the nobility or upper house, and the common councilmen to the

commons of England.

This assembly, consisting of the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and common

councilmen, has obtained the name of The Common Council, and has a power,

by their charters, of making such bye-laws and statutes as are obligatory

to the citizens. It is called and adjourned by the Lord Mayor at

pleasure, and out of it are formed several committees, viz.—1. A

committee of six aldermen and twelve commoners for letting the City

lands, which usually meets every Wednesday at Guildhall for that end. 2.

A committee of four aldermen and eight commoners for letting the lands

and tenements given by Sir Thomas Gresham, who meets at Mercers’ Hall on

a summons from the Lord Mayor. 3. Commissioners of Sewers and Pavements,

elected annually. And, 4. A governor, deputy-governor and assistants,

for the management of City lands in the province of Ulster in Ireland.

The other principal courts in the City are, 1. The Court of Aldermen. 2.

The Court of Hustings. 3. The Lord Mayor’s Court. 4. The Sheriff’s

Court. 5. The Chamberlain’s Court. 6. The Court of the City Orphans.

7. The Court of Conscience. 8. The Courts of Wardmote. And, 9. The

Courts of Hallmote.

Besides which, there is a Court of Oyer and Terminer and Jail Delivery,

held eight times a year at Justice Hall in the Old Bailey, for the trial

of criminals.

1. In the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen is lodged the executive power

in a great measure, and by these most of the city officers are appointed,

viz., the recorder, four common pleaders, the comptroller of the chamber,

the two secondaries, the remembrancer, the city solicitor, the

sword-bearer, the common hunt, the water bailiff, four attorneys of the

Lord Mayor’s Court, the clerk of the chamber, three sergeant carvers,

three sergeants of the chamber, the sergeant of the chanel, the two

marshals, the hall-keeper, the yeomen of the chamber, four yeomen of the

waterside, the yeoman of the chanel, the under water-bailiff, two meal

weighers, two fruit-meters, the foreign taker, the clerk of the City

works, six young men, two clerks of the papers, eight attorneys of the

Sheriff’s Court, eight clerks fitters, two prothonotaries, the clerk of

the Bridge House, the clerk of the Court of Requests, the beadle of the

Court of Requests, thirty-six sergeants at mace, thirty-six yeomen, the

gauger, the sealers and searchers of leather, the keeper of the

Greenyard, two keepers of the two compters, the keeper of Newgate, the

keeper of Ludgate, the measurer, the steward of Southwark (but the

bailiff of Southwark is appointed by the Common Council) the bailiff of

the hundred of Ossulston, the City artificers, and rent-gatherer, who

hath been put in by Mr. Chamberlain.

In this court all leases and instruments that pass under the City Seal

are executed; the assize of bread is settled by them; all differences

relating to water-courses, lights, and party-walls, are determined, and

officers are suspended or punished; and the aldermen, or a majority of

them, have a negative in whatever is propounded in the Common Council.

2. The Court of Hustings is esteemed the most ancient tribunal in the

City, and was established for the preservation of the laws, franchises,

and customs of it. It is held at Guildhall before the Lord Mayor and

Sheriffs, and in civil causes the Recorder sits as judge. Here deeds are

enrolled, recoveries passed, writs of right, waste, partition, dower, and

replevins determined.

3. The Lord Mayor’s Court, a court of record, held in the chamber of

Guildhall every Tuesday, where the Recorder also sits as judge, and the

Lord Mayor and Aldermen may sit with him if they see fit. Actions of

debt, trespass, arising within the City and liberties, of any value, may

be tried in this court, and an action may be removed hither from the

Sheriff’s Court before the jury is sworn.

The juries for trying causes in this and the Sheriff’s Courts, are

returned by the several wards at their wardmote inquests at Christmas,

when each ward appoints the persons to serve on juries for every month in

the year ensuing.

This court is also a court of equity, and gives relief where judgment is

obtained in the Sheriff’s Court for more than the just debt.

4. The Sheriff’s Courts are also courts of record, where may be tried

actions of debt, trespass, covenant, &c. They are held on Wednesdays and

Fridays for actions entered in Wood Street Compter, and every Thursday

and Saturday for actions entered in the Poultry Compter. Here the

testimony of an absent witness in writing is allowed to be good evidence.

5. The Chamberlain’s Court or office is held at the chamber in

Guildhall. He receives and pays the City cash and orphans’ money, and

keeps the securities taken by the Court of Aldermen for the same, and

annually accounts to the auditors appointed for that purpose. He attends

every morning at Guildhall, to enroll or turn over apprentices, or to

make them free; and hears and determines differences between masters and

their apprentices.

6. The Court of City Orphans is held by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen as

often as occasion requires; the Common Sergeant being entrusted by them

to take all inventories and accounts of freeman’s estates, and the

youngest attorney in the Mayor’s Court is clerk of the orphans, and

appointed to take security for their portions; for when any freeman dies,

leaving children under the age of twenty-one years, the clerks of the

respective parishes give in their names to the common crier, who

thereupon summons the widow or executor to appear before the Court of

Aldermen, to bring in an inventory, and give security for the testator’s

estate, for which they commonly allow two months’ time, and in case of

non-appearance, or refusal of security, the Lord Mayor may commit the

executor to Newgate.

7. The Court of Conscience was established for recovering small debts

under forty shillings at an easy expense, the creditor’s oath of the debt

being sufficient without further testimony to ascertain the debt. This

court sits at the hustings in Guildhall every Wednesday and Saturday,

where the Common Council of each ward are judges in their turns. They

proceed first by summons, which costs but sixpence, and if the defendant

appears there is no further charge; the debt is ordered to be paid at

such times and in such proportion as the court in their consciences think

the debtor able to discharge it; but if the defendant neglect to appear,

or obey the order of the court, an attachment or execution follows with

as much expedition and as small an expense as can be supposed. All

persons within the freedom of the City, whether freemen or not, may

prosecute and be prosecuted in this court, and freemen may be summoned

who live out of the liberty.

8. The courts of wardmote are held by the aldermen of each ward, for

choosing ward-officers, and settling the affairs of the ward, the Lord

Mayor annually issuing his precept to the aldermen to hold his wardmote

on St. Thomas’s Day for the election of common councilmen and other

officers; they also present such offences and nuisances at certain times

to the Lord Mayor and common councilmen as require redress.

9. Small offences are punished by the justices in or out of sessions, by

whom the offender is sentenced to be whipped, imprisoned, or kept to hard

labour; but for the trial of capital offences, a commission of Oyer and

Terminer and jail delivery issues eight times every year, _i.e._, before

and after every term, directed to the Lord Mayor, Recorder, some of the

twelve judges, and others whom the Crown is pleased to assign. These

commissioners sit at Justice Hall in the Old Bailey, and bills of

indictment having been found by the grand juries of London or Middlesex,

containing the prisoner’s accusation, a petty jury, consisting of twelve

substantial citizens is empanelled for the trial of each of them; for, as

to the grand jury, they only consider whether there is such a probability

of the prisoner’s guilt as to put him upon making his defence, and this

is determined by a majority of the grand jury: but the petty jury, who

pass upon the prisoner’s life and death, must all agree in their verdict,

or he cannot be convicted. But though the petty jury judge of the fact,

_i.e._, what the crime is, or whether it was committed by the prisoner or

not, the commissioners or judges declare what are the punishments

appropriated to the several species of crimes, and pronounce judgment

accordingly on the offender. In high treason they sentence the criminal

to be drawn upon a hurdle to the place of execution, there to be hanged

and quartered. In murder, robbery, and other felonies, which are

excluded the benefit of the clergy, the criminal is sentenced to be

hanged till he is dead. And for crimes within the benefit of the clergy,

the offender is burnt in the hand or transported, at the discretion of

the court. And for petty larceny, _i.e._, where the offender is found

guilty of theft under the value of twelve pence, he is sentenced to be

whipped. But a report being made to His Majesty by the Recorder, of the

circumstances with which the several capital offences were attended, and

what may be urged either in aggravation or mitigation of them, the

respective criminals are either pardoned or executed according to His

Majesty’s pleasure. But I should have remembered, that the sentence

against a woman, either for high or petty treason, is to be burnt alive.

I shall now give some account of the election of the Lord Mayor,

Sheriffs, &c., who are chosen by a majority of the liverymen.

The Lord Mayor is elected on Michaelmas Day (from among the aldermen, by

the liverymen of the City, who return two aldermen that have served

sheriffs to the Court of Aldermen for their acceptance, who generally

declare the first upon the liverymen’s roll to be Lord-Mayor) sworn at

Guildhall on Simon and Jude, and before the barons of the Exchequer at

Westminster the day following.

The Lord Mayor appears abroad in very great state at all times, being

clothed in scarlet robes, or purple richly furred, according to the

season of the year, with a hood of black velvet, and a golden chain or

collar of S.S. about his neck, and a rich jewel pendant thereon, his

officers walking before and on both sides, his train held up, and the

City sword and mace borne before him. He keeps open house during his

mayoralty, and the sword-bearer is allowed £1,000 for his table. The

Lord Mayor usually goes to St. Paul’s, attended by the aldermen in their

gowns, and his officers, every Sunday morning; but especially the first

Sunday in term-time, where he meets the twelve judges and invites them to

dinner after divine service is ended.

The sheriffs are chosen into their office on Midsummer day annually by

the liverymen also; to which end the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and sheriffs

meet in the council-chamber at Guildhall, about eight in the morning, and

coming down afterwards into the Court of Hustings, the recorder declares

to the livery men assembled in the hall that this is the day prescribed

for the election of these magistrates for the year ensuing: then the

Court of Aldermen go up to the Lord Mayor’s Court till the sheriffs are

chosen; the old sheriffs, the chamberlain, common serjeant, town clerk,

and other City officers remaining in the Court of Hustings, to attend the

election. After the sheriffs are chosen, the commons proceed to elect a

chamberlain, bridge-masters, auditors of the city and bridge-house

accounts, and the surveyors of beer and ale, according to custom. The

old sheriffs are judges of these elections, and declare by the common

serjeant who are duly chosen. The sheriffs thus elected take the usual

oaths in this court on Michaelmas eve, and the day after Michaelmas day

are presented to the Barons of the Exchequer, where they take the oath of

office, the oaths of allegiance, &c. The chamberlains and bridge-masters

are sworn in the court of aldermen.

Where a Lord Mayor elect refuses to serve, he is liable to be fined; and

if a person chosen sheriff refuses to serve, he is fined £413 6s. 8d.,

unless he makes oath he is not worth £10,000.

When the alderman of any ward dies, another is within a few days elected

in his room, at a wardmote held for that purpose, at which the Lord Mayor

usually presides. Every alderman has his deputy, who supplies his place

in his absence. These deputies are always taken from among the Common

Council. The aldermen above the chair, and the three eldest aldermen

beneath it, are justices of peace in the City by the charter.

The Lord-Mayor’s jurisdiction in some cases extends a great way beyond

the City, upon the river Thames eastward as far as the conflux of the two

rivers Thames and Medway, and up the river Lea as far as Temple Mills,

being about three miles; and westward as far as Colney Ditch above Staine

Bridge: he names a deputy called the water-bailiff, whose business is to

prevent any encroachments, nuisances, and frauds used by fishermen or

others, destructive to the fishery, or hurtful to the navigation of the

said waters; and yearly keeps courts for the conservation of the river in

the counties it borders upon within the said limits.

The sheriffs also are sheriffs of the county of Middlesex as well as of

London. And here I shall take an opportunity to observe, that the number

of aldermen are twenty-six; the number of Common-Council men two hundred

and thirty-four; the number of companies eighty-four; and the number of

citizens on the livery, who have a voice in their elections, are computed

to be between seven and eight thousand. The twelve principal companies

are:—1. The Mercers; 2. Grocers; 3. Drapers; 4. Fishmongers; 5.

Goldsmiths; 6. Skinners; 7. Merchant-Tailors; 8. Haberdashers; 9.

Salters; 10. Ironmongers; 11. Vintners; 12. Clothworkers. The

others:—are 13. The Dyers; 14. Brewers; 15. Leather-Sellers; 16.

Pewterers; 17. Barber-Surgeons; 18. Cutlers; 19. Bakers; 20.

Wax-Chandlers; 21. Tallow-Chandlers; 22. Armourers; 23. Girdlers; 24.

Butchers; 25. Saddlers; 26. Carpenters; 27. Cord-wainers; 28.

Painter-stainers; 29. Curriers; 30. Masons; 31. Plumbers; 32. Innholders;

33. Founders; 34. Poulterers; 35. Cooks; 36. Coopers; 37. Tilers and

Bricklayers; 38. Bowyers; 39. Fletchers; 40. Blacksmiths; 41. Joiners;

42. Weavers; 43. Woolmen; 44. Scriveners; 45. Fruiterers; 46. Plasterers;

47. Stationers; 48. Embroiderers; 49. Upholders; 50. Musicians; 51.

Turners; 52. *Basket-makers; 53. Glaziers; 54. *Horners; 55. Farriers;

56. *Paviours; 57. Lorimers; 58. Apothecaries; 59. Shipwrights; 60.

*Spectacle-makers; 61. *Clock-makers; 62. *Glovers; 63. *Comb-makers; 64.

*Felt-makers; 65. Frame-work Knitters; 66. *Silk throwers; 67. Carmen;

68. *Pin-makers; 69. Needle-makers; 70. Gardeners; 71. Soap-makers; 72.

Tin-plate Workers; 73. Wheelwrights; 74. Distillers; 75. Hatband-makers;

76. Patten-makers; 77. Glasssellers; 78. Tobacco-pipe makers; 79. Coach

and Coach-harness makers; 80. Gun-makers; 81. Gold and Silver

Wire-Drawers; 82. Long Bow-string makers; 83. Card-makers; 84.

Fan-makers.

The companies marked with an * before them have no liverymen, and all the

freemen of the rest are not upon the livery, that is, entitled to wear

the gowns belonging to the respective companies, and vote in elections,

but a select number of freemen only. Every company is a distinct

corporation, being incorporated by grants from the crown, or acts of

parliament, and having certain rules, liberties, and privileges, for the

better support and government of their several trades and mysteries: many

of them are endowed with lands to a great value, and have their masters,

wardens, assistants, clerks, and other officers, to direct and regulate

their affairs, and to restrain and punish abuses incident to their

several trades; and when any disputes arise concerning the due execution

of these charters, the Lord Mayor has a supreme power to determine the

case and to punish the offenders.

The military government of the City of London is lodged in the

lieutenancy, consisting of the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and other principal

citizens, who receive their authority from his majesty’s commission,

which he revokes and alters as often as he sees fit. These have under

their command six regiments of foot, viz.:—1, The White; 2, the Orange;

3, the Yellow; 4, the Blue; 5, the Green; and 6, the Red Regiment—in

every one of which are eight companies, consisting of one hundred and

fifty men each; in all, seven thousand two hundred men: besides which

there is a kind of independent company, called the artillery company,

consisting of seven or eight hundred volunteers, whose skill in military

discipline is much admired by their fellow-citizens. These exercise

frequently in the artillery ground, engage in mock fights and sieges, and

storm the dunghills with great address.

The Tower Hamlets, it has been observed already, are commanded by the

lieutenant of the Tower, and consist of two regiments of foot, eight

hundred each: so that the whole militia of London, exclusive of

Westminster and Southwark, amount to near ten thousand men.

London, like other cities of the kingdom, is, or ought to be, governed by

its bishop in spirituals, though his authority is very little regarded at

present. The justices of peace at their sessions may empower any man to

preach and administer the sacraments, let his occupation or

qualifications be never so mean; nor do they ever refuse it to a person

who is able to raise the small sum of — pence being less a great deal

than is paid for licensing a common alehouse. A clergyman indeed cannot

be entitled to a benefice without being, in some measure, subject to his

diocesan; but he may throw off his gown, and assemble a congregation that

shall be much more beneficial to him, and propagate what doctrines he

sees fit (as is evident in the case of orator Henley): but to proceed.

The diocese of London is in the province of Canterbury, and comprehends

the counties of Middlesex and Essex, and part of Hertfordshire; the

British plantations in America are also subject to this bishop. To the

cathedral of St. Paul belongs a dean, three residentiaries, a treasurer,

chancellor, precentor, and thirty prebendaries. The Bishop of London

takes place next to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, but his

revenues are not equal to those of Durham or Winchester. The deanery of

St. Paul’s is said to be worth a thousand pounds per annum, and each of

the residentiaries about three hundred pounds per annum.

The parishes within the walls of London are ninety-seven; but several of

them having been united since the Fire, there are at present but

sixty-two parish churches, and consequently the same number of parish

priests: the revenues of these gentlemen are seldom less than £100 per

annum, and none more than £200 per annum. They appear to be most of them

about £150 per annum, besides their several parsonage houses and surplice

fees; and most of them have lectureships in town, or livings in the

country, or some other spiritual preferment of equal value.

The city of Westminster, the western part of the town, comes next under

consideration which received its name from the abbey or minster situated

to the westward of London. This city, if we comprehend the district or

liberties belonging to it, lies along the banks of the Thames in the form

of a bow or crescent, extending from Temple Bar in the east to Millbank

in the south-west; the inside of this bow being about a mile and a half

in length, and the outside two miles and a half at least; the breadth,

one place with another, from the Thames to the fields on the north-west

side of the town, about a mile; and I am apt to think a square of two

miles in length and one in breadth would contain all the buildings within

the liberty of Westminster. That part of the town which is properly

called the city of Westminster contains no more than St. Margaret’s and

St. John’s parishes, which form a triangle, one side whereof extends from

Whitehall to Peterborough House on Millbank; another side reaches from

Peterborough House to Stafford House, or Tart Hall, at the west end of

the park; and the third side extends from Stafford house to Whitehall;

the circumference of the whole being about two miles. This spot of

ground, it is said, was anciently an island, a branch of the Thames

running through the park from west to east, and falling into the main

river again about Whitehall, which island was originally called Thorney

Island, from the woods and bushes that covered it; the abbey or minster

also was at first called Thorney Abbey or minster, from the island on

which it stood.

St. James’s Park is something more than a mile in circumference, and the

form pretty near oval; about the middle of it runs a canal 2,800 feet in

length and 100 in breadth, and near it are several other waters, which

form an island that has good cover for the breeding and harbouring wild

ducks and other water-fowl; on the island also is a pretty house and

garden, scarce visible to the company in the park. On the north side are

several fine walks of elms and limes half a mile in length, of which the

Mall is one. The palace of St. James’s, Marlborough House, and the fine

buildings in the street called Pall Mall, adorn this side of the park.

At the east end is a view of the Admiralty, a magnificent edifice, lately

built with brick and stone; the Horse Guards, the Banqueting House, the

most elegant fabric in the kingdom, with the Treasury and the fine

buildings about the Cockpit; and between these and the end of the grand

canal is a spacious parade, where the horse and foot guards rendezvous

every morning before they mount their respective guards.

On the south side of the park run shady walks of trees from east to west,

parallel almost to the canal, and walks on the north; adjoining to which

are the sumptuous houses in Queen Street, Queen Square, &c., inhabited by

people of quality: and the west end of the park is adorned with the Duke

of Buckingham’s beautiful seat. But what renders St. James’s Park one of

the most delightful scenes in Nature is the variety of living objects

which is met with here; for besides the deer and wild fowl, common to

other parks, besides the water, fine walks, and the elegant buildings

that surround it, hither the politest part of the British nation of both

sexes frequently resort in the spring to take the benefit of the evening

air, and enjoy the most agreeable conversation imaginable; and those who

have a taste for martial music, and the shining equipage of the soldiery,

will find their eyes and ears agreeably entertained by the horse and foot

guards every morning.

The Sanctuary, or the abbey-yard, is a large open square, between King

Street and the Gate-house, north-west of the abbey, and was called the

Sanctuary, because any person who came within these limits was entitled

to the privilege of sanctuary—that is, he was not liable to be

apprehended by any officers of justice.

This privilege, it is said, was first granted to the abbey by Sebert,

king of the East Saxons, increased by King Edgar, and confirmed by Edward

the Confessor, by the following charter:—

“Edward, by the grace of God, king of Englishmen; I make it to be known

to all generations of the world after me, that, by special commandment of

our holy father Pope Leo, I have renewed and honoured the holy church of

the blessed apostle St. Peter of Westminster; and I order and establish

for ever, that what person, of what condition or estate soever he be,

from whencesoever he come, or for what offence or cause it be, either for

his refuge in the said holy place, he is assured of his life, liberty,

and limbs: and over this, I forbid, under pain of everlasting damnation,

that no minister of mine, or any of my successors, intermeddle with any

of the goods, lands, and possessions of the said persons taking the said

sanctuary: for I have taken their goods and livelode into my special

protection. And therefore I grant to every, each of them, in as much as

my terrestrial power may suffice, all manner of freedom of joyous

liberty. And whosoever presumes, or doth contrary to this my grant, I

will he lose his name, worship, dignity, and power; and that with the

great traitor Judas that betrayed our Saviour, he be in the everlasting

fire of hell. And I will and ordain, that this my grant endure as long

as there remaineth in England either love or dread of Christian name.”

This privilege of sanctuary, as far as it related to traitors, murderers,

and felons, was in a great measure abolished by a statute of the 32nd

Henry VIII.: and in the beginning of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, every

debtor who fled to sanctuary, to shelter himself from his creditors, was

obliged to take an oath of the following tenor, viz.:—That he did not

claim the privilege of sanctuary to defraud any one of his goods, debts,

or money, but only for the security of his person until he should be able

to pay his creditors.

That he would give in a true particular of his debts and credits.

That he would endeavour to pay his debts as soon as possible.

That he would be present at the abbey at morning and evening prayer.

That he would demean himself honestly and quietly, avoid suspected

houses, unlawful games, banqueting, and riotous company.

That he would wear no weapon, or be out of his lodging before sunrise or

after sunset, nor depart out of the precinct of the sanctuary without the

leave of the dean, or archdeacon in his absence.

That he would be obedient to the dean and the officers of the house.

And lastly, that if he should break his oath in any particular, he should

not claim the privilege of sanctuary.

And if any creditor could make it appear that he had any money, goods, or

chattels that were not contained in the particular given in to the dean

and the church, the sanctuary man was to be imprisoned till he came to an

agreement with his creditors.

The Abbey-Church of St. Peter at Westminster appears to be very ancient,

though far from being so ancient as is vulgarly reported.

Some relate, without any authority to support the conjecture, that it was

founded in the days of the Apostles by St. Peter himself; others that it

was erected by King Lucius about the year 170. And by some it is said to

have been built by King Sebert, the first Christian king of the

East-Saxons (Essex and Middlesex), anno 611. But I take it for granted

the church was not built before the convent or abbey it belonged to.

People did not use to build churches at a distance from town, unless for

the service of convents or religious houses. But neither in the times of

the Apostles, nor in the supposed reign of King Lucius, in the second

century, was there any such thing as a convent in England, or perhaps in

any part of Christendom. During the dominion of the Saxons in this

island, monasteries indeed were erected here, and in many other kingdoms,

in great abundance; and as the monks generally chose thick woods or other

solitary places for their residence, where could they meet with a spot of

ground fitter for their purpose than this woody island called Thorney,

then destitute of inhabitants? But I am inclined to think that neither

this or any other monastery was erected in South Britain till the seventh

century, after Austin the monk came into England. As to the tradition of

its having been built upon the ruins of the temple of Apollo, destroyed

by an earthquake, I do not doubt but the monks were very ready to

propagate a fable of this kind, who formed so many others to show the

triumphs of Christianity over paganism, and to induce their proselytes to

believe that heaven miraculously interposed in their favour by

earthquakes, storms, and other prodigies. But to proceed. When the

convent was erected, I make no doubt that there was a church or chapel

built as usual for the service of the monks; but it is evident from

history that the dimensions of the first or second church that stood here

were not comparable to those of the present church.

We may rely upon it that about the year 850 there was a church and

convent in the island of Thorney, because about that time, London being

in the possession of the Danes, the convent was destroyed by them (not in

the year 659, as some writers have affirmed, because the Danes did not

invade England till nearly 200 years afterwards). The abbey lay in ruins

about a hundred years, when King Edgar, at the instance of Dunstan, Abbot

of Glastonbury (and afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury), rebuilt this

and several other monasteries, about the year 960. Edward the Confessor,

a devout prince, enlarged this church and monastery, in which he placed

the Benedictine monks, ordered the regalia to be kept by the fathers of

the convent, and succeeding kings to be crowned here, as William the

Conqueror and several other English monarchs afterwards were, most of

them enriching this abbey with large revenues; but King Henry III.

ordered the church built by Edward the Confessor to be pulled down, and

erected the present magnificent fabric in the room of it, of which he

laid the first stone about the year 1245.

That admired piece of architecture at the east end, dedicated to the

Virgin Mary, was built by Henry VII., anno 1502, and from the founder is

usually called Henry the VII.’s Chapel. Here most of the English

monarchs since that time have been interred.

The dimensions of the abbey-church, according to the new survey, are as

follows, viz.:—The length of the church, from the west end of it to the

east end of St. Edward’s Chapel, is 354 feet; the breadth of the west

end, 66 feet; the breadth of the cross aisle, from north to south, 189

feet; the height of the middle roof, 92 feet; the distance from the west

end of the church to the choir, 162 feet; and from the west end to the

cross aisle, 220 feet; the distance from the east end of St. Edward’s

Chapel to the west end of Henry VII.’s Chapel, 36 feet; and the length of

Henry VII.’s Chapel, 99 feet: so that the length of the whole building is

489 feet; the breadth of Henry VII.’s Chapel, 66 feet; and the height, 54

feet. The nave and cross aisles of the abbey-church are supported by

fifty slender pillars, of Sussex marble, besides forty-five demi-pillars

or pilasters. There are an upper and lower range of windows, being

ninety-four in number, those at the four ends of the cross very spacious.

All which, with the arches, roofs, doors, &c., are of the ancient Gothic

order. Above the chapiters the pillars spread into several

semi-cylindrical branches, forming and adorning the arches of the

pillars, and those of the roofs of the aisles, which are three in number,

running from east to west, and a cross aisle running from north to south.

The choir is paved with black and white marble, in which are twenty-eight

stalls on the north side, as many on the fourth, and eight at the west

end; from the choir we ascend by several steps to a most magnificent

marble altarpiece, which would be esteemed a beauty in an Italian church.

Beyond the altar is King Edward the Confessor’s Chapel, surrounded with

eleven or twelve other chapels replenished with monuments of the British

nobility, for a particular whereof I refer the reader to the “Antiquities

of St. Peter, or the Abbey-Church of Westminster,” by J. Crull, M.D.

Lond. 1711, 8vo, and the several supplements printed since; and shall

only take notice of those of the kings and queens in the chapel of St.

Edward the Confessor, which are as follows, viz., Edward I., King of

England; Henry III.; Matilda, wife of Henry I.; Queen Eleanor, wife of

Edward I.; St. Edward the Confessor, and Queen Editha, his wife; Henry

V., and Queen Catherine of Valois, his wife; Edward III., and Queen

Philippa, his wife; Richard II., and Queen Anne, his wife. And on the

south side of the choir, King Sebert, and Queen Anne of Cheve, wife to

Henry VIII. East of St. Edward’s Chapel is that of Henry VII., dedicated

to the blessed Virgin Mary, to which we ascend by twelve stone steps. At

the west end whereof are three brazen doors finely wrought, which give an

entrance into it. The stalls on the north and south sides are

exquisitely carved. The roof is supported by twelve pillars and arches

of the Gothic order, abounding with enrichments of carved figures, fruit,

&c. At the east end is a spacious window with stained glass, besides

which there are thirteen other windows above, and as many below on the

north and south sides. Under each of the thirteen uppermost windows are

five figures placed in niches, representing kings, queens, bishops, &c.,

and under them the figures of as many angels supporting imperial crowns.

The roof, which is all stone, is divided into sixteen circles, curiously

wrought, and is the admiration of all that see it.

The outside of this chapel was adorned with fourteen towers, three

figures being placed in niches on each of them, which were formerly much

admired; but the stone decaying and mouldering away, they make but an odd

appearance at present.

In this chapel have been interred most of the English kings since Richard

III., whose tombs are no small ornament to it, particularly that of Henry

VII., the founder, which stands in the middle of the area towards the

east end.

The tomb is composed of a curious pedestal whose sides are adorned with

various figures, as the north with those of six men, the east with those

of two cupids supporting the king’s arms and an imperial crown; on the

south side, also, six figures, circumscribed—as those on the north

side—with circles of curious workmanship, the most easterly of which

contains the figure of an angel treading on a dragon. Here is also a

woman and a child, seeming to allude to Rev. xii.; and on the west end

the figure of a rose and an imperial crown, supported with those of a

dragon and a greyhound: on the tomb are the figures of the king and

queen, lying at full length, with four angels, one at each angle of the

tomb, all very finely done in brass.

The screen or fence is also of solid brass, very strong and spacious,

being in length 19 feet, in breadth 11, and the altitude 11, adorned with

forty-two pillars and their arches; also, twenty smaller hollow columns

and their arches in the front of the former, and joined at the cornice,

on which cornice is a kind of acroteria, enriched with roses and

portcullises interchanged in the upper part, and with the small figures

of dragons and greyhounds (the supporters aforesaid) in the lower part;

and at each of the four angles is a strong pillar made open, or hollow,

composed in imitation of diaper and Gothic archwork; the four sides have

been adorned with thirty-two figures of men, about a cubit high, placed

in niches, of which there are only seven left, the rest being stolen away

(one Raymond, about the 11th of Queen Elizabeth, having been twice

indicted for the same); and about the middle of the upper part of each of

the four sides is a spacious branch adorned with the figure of a rose,

where might on occasion be placed lamps. This admirable piece of art is

open at top, and has two portals, one on the north, the other on the

south side, all of fine brass.

This Royal founder’s epitaph:

_Septimus Henricus tumulo requiescit in isto_,

_Qui regum splendor_, _lumen et orbis erat_.

_Rex vigil et sapiens_, _comes virtutis_, _amatur_,

_Egregius forma_, _strenuus atque potens_.

_Qui peperit pacem regno_, _qui bella peregit_

_Plurima_, _qui victor semper ab hoste redit_,

_Qui natas binis conjunxit regibus ambas_,

_Regibus et cunctis fædere junctus erat_.

_Qui sacrum hoc struxit templum_, _statuitque_; _sepulchrum_

_Pro se_, _proque sua conjuge_, _proque domo_.

_Lustra decem atque_; _annos tres plus compleverit annos_,

_Nam tribus octenis regia sceptra tulit_;

_Quindecies Domini centenus fluxerat annus_,

_Currebat nonus_, _cum venit atra dies_;

_Septima ter mensis lux tunc fulgebat Aprilis_,

_Cum clausit summum tanta corona diem_.

_Nulla dedere prius tantum sibi sæcula regem_

_Anglia_, _vix similem posteriora dabunt_.

_Septimus hic situs est Henricus gloria regum_

_Cunctorum_, _ipsius qui tempestate fuerunt_;

_Ingenio atque_; _opibus gestarum et nomine rerum_,

_Accessere quibus naturæ dona benignæ_:

_Frontis honos facies augusta heroica forma_,

_Junctaque ei suavis conjux per pulchra pudica_,

_Et fæcunda fuit_; _felices prole parentes_,

_Henricum quibus octavum terra Anglia debet_.

Under the figure of the king.

_Hic jacet Henricus ejus nominis septimus_, _Anglicæ quondam rex_,

_Edmundi Richmondiæ comitis filius_, _qui die_ 22 _Aug._ _Rex

creatus_, _statim post apud Westmonasterium die_ 30 Octob.

_coronatur_ 1485. _Moritur deinde_ 21 _die Aprilis anno ætat._ 53,

_regnavit annos_ 23, _menses_ 8, _minus uno die_.

Under the queen’s figure.

_Hic jacet regina Elizabetha_, _Edvardi quarti quondam regis filia_,

_Edvardi quinti regis quondam nominatur soror: Henrici septimi olim

regis conjux_, _atque_; _Henrici octavi regis mater inclyta_; _obiit

autem suum diem in turri Londoniarum die secund_. _Feb. anno Domini_

1502, 37 _annorum ætate functa_.

The modern tombs in the abbey, best worth the viewing, are those of the

duke of Newcastle, on the left hand as we enter the north door, of Sir

Isaac Newton, at the west end of the choir, of Sir Godfrey Kneller, and

Mr. Secretary Craggs at the west end of the abbey, of Mr. Prior among the

poets at the door which faces the Old Palace Yard, of the Duke of

Buckingham in Henry VII.th’s chapel, and that of Doctor Chamberlain on

the North side of the choir: most of these are admirable pieces of

sculpture, and show that the statuary’s art is not entirely lost in this

country; though it must be confessed the English fall short of the

Italians in this science.

Westminster Hall is one of the largest rooms in Europe, being two hundred

and twenty-eight feet in length, fifty-six feet broad, and ninety feet

high. The walls are of stone, the windows of the Gothic form, the floor

stone, and the roof of timber covered with lead; and having not one

pillar in it, is supported by buttresses. It is usually observed that

there are no cobwebs ever seen in this hall, and the reason given for

this is, that the timber of which the roof is composed is Irish oak, in

which spiders will not harbour; but I am inclined to believe that this is

a fact not to be depended on, for I find the timber for rebuilding and

repairing the Palace of Westminster in the reign of Richard III. was

brought from the forests in Essex; and as there is no colour from history

to surmise that the timber of this hall was Irish oak, so is there no

imaginable reason why timber should be fetched from another kingdom for

the repair of the hall, when the counties of Middlesex and Essex were

great part of them forest, and afforded timber enough to have built

twenty such places; and we find that the timber of the Essex forests was

in fact applied to the repairs of this palace; for it cannot be pretended

that the present roof is the same that was erected by William Rufus when

it was first built, it appearing that Richard II., about the year 1397,

caused the old roof to be taken down and a new one made (as has been

observed already) and this is probably the same we now see. Here are

hung up as trophies, 138 colours, and 34 standards, taken from the French

and Bavarians at Hochstadt, anno 1704.

The House of Lords, or chamber where the peers assemble in Parliament, is

situated between the Old Palace Yard and the Thames. It is a spacious

room, of an oblong form, at the south end whereof is the King’s throne,

to which he ascends by several steps: on the right hand of the throne is

a seat for the Prince of Wales, and on the left another for the princes

of the blood, and behind the throne the seats of the peers under age.

On the east side of the house, to the right of the throne, sit the

archbishops and bishops; on the opposite side of the house sit the dukes,

marquises, earls, and viscounts; and on forms crossing the area, the

barons under the degree of viscounts.

Before the throne are three wool-sacks, or broad seats stuffed with wool,

to put the Legislature in mind, it is said, that the right management of

this trade is of the last importance to the kingdom. On the first of

these wool-sacks, next to the throne, sits the Lord Chancellor, or

Keeper, who is Speaker of the House of Peers; and on the other two, the

Lord Chief Justices and the rest of the judges, with the Master of the

Rolls, and the other Masters in Chancery: about the middle of the house,

on the east side, is a chimney, where a fire is usually kept in the

winter; and towards the north, or lower end of the house, is a bar that

runs across it, to which the commons advance when they bring up bills or

impeachments, or when the King sends for them, and without this bar the

council and witnesses stand at trials before the peers. The house is at

present hung with tapestry, containing the history of the defeat of the

Spanish Armada, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, anno 1588.

The house or chamber where the commons assemble is to the northward of

the House of Lords, and stands east and west, as the other does north and

south. The room is pretty near square, and towards the upper end is the

Speaker’s armed chair, to which he ascends by a step or two; before it is

a table where the clerks sit, on which the mace lies when the Speaker is

in the chair, and at other times the mace is laid under the table. On

the north and south sides, and at the west end, are seats gradually

ascending as in a theatre, and between the seats at the west end is the

entrance by a pair of folding-doors. There are galleries also on the

north, south, and west, where strangers are frequently admitted to hear

the debates.

This room was anciently a chapel, founded by King Stephen about the year

1141, and dedicated to the Blessed Virgin; however, it obtained the name

of St. Stephen’s Chapel. It was rebuilt by King Edward III., anno 1347,

who placed in it a dean, twelve secular canons, thirteen vicars, four

clerks, five choristers, a verger, and a keeper of the chapel, and built

them a convent, which extended along the Thames, endowing it with large

revenues, which at the dissolution of monasteries in the reign of Edward

VI. amounted to near eleven thousand pounds per annum. Almost ever since

the dissolution, this chapel has been converted to the use we find it at

present, viz., for the session of the Lower House of Parliament, who,

before that time, usually assembled in the chapter-house belonging to the

Abbey, when the Parliament met at Westminster. The Painted Chamber lies

between the House of Lords and the House of Commons, and here the

committees of both houses usually meet at a conference; but neither this

nor the other remaining apartments of this Palace of Westminster have

anything in them that merit a particular description.

The open place usually called Charing Cross, from a fine cross which

stood there before the grand rebellion, is of a triangular form, having

the Pall Mall and the Haymarket on the north-west, the Strand on the

east, and the street before Whitehall on the south. In the middle of

this space is erected a brazen equestrian statue of King Charles I.,

looking towards the place where that prince was murdered by the rebels,

who had erected a scaffold for that purpose before the gates of his own

palace. This statue is erected on a stone pedestal seventeen feet high,

enriched with his Majesty’s arms, trophy-work, palm-branches, &c.,

enclosed with an iron palisade, and was erected by King Charles II. after

his restoration. The brick buildings south-east of Charing Cross are

mostly beautiful and uniform, and the King’s stables in the Mews, which

lie north of it, and are now magnificently rebuilding of hewn stone, will

probably make Charing Cross as fine a place as any we have in town;

especially as it stands upon an eminence overlooking Whitehall.

The Banqueting-house stands on the east side of the street adjoining to

the great gate of Whitehall on the south. This edifice is built of hewn

stone, and consists of one stately room, of an oblong form, upwards of

forty feet in height, the length and breadth proportionable, having

galleries round it on the inside, the ceiling beautifully painted by that

celebrated history-painter, Sir Peter Paul Rubens: it is adorned on the

outside with a lower and upper range of columns of the Ionic and

Composite orders, their capitals enriched with fruit, foliage, &c., the

intercolumns of the upper and lower range being handsome sashed windows.

It is surrounded on the top with stone rails or banisters, and covered

with lead.

St. James’s Palace, where the Royal Family now resides in the winter

season, stands pleasantly upon the north side of the Park, and has

several noble rooms in it, but is an irregular building, by no means

suitable to the grandeur of the British monarch its master. In the front

next St. James’s Street there appears little more than an old gate-house,

by which we enter a little square court, with a piazza on the west side

of it leading to the grand staircase; and there are two other courts

beyond, which have not much the air of a prince’s palace. This palace

was a hospital, suppressed by Henry VIII., who built this edifice in the

room of it.

But the house most admired for its situation is that of the Duke of

Buckingham at the west end of the Park; in the front of which, towards

the Mall and the grand canal, is a spacious court, the offices on each

side having a communication with the house by two little bending piazzas

and galleries that form the wings. This front is adorned with two ranges

of pilasters of the Corinthian and Tuscan orders, and over them is an

acroteria of figures, representing Mercury, Secrecy, Equity, and Liberty,

and under them this inscription in large golden characters, _viz._, SIC

SITI LÆTANTVR LARES (Thus situated, may the household gods rejoice).

Behind the house is a fine garden and terrace, from whence there is

prospect adjacent on the house on that side, viz., RVS IN VRBE,

intimating that it has the advantages both of city and country; above

which are figures representing the four seasons: The hall is paved with

marble, and adorned with pilasters, the intercolumns exquisite paintings

in great variety; and on a pedestal, near the foot of the grand

staircase, is a marble figure of Cain killing his brother Abel; the whole

structure exceeding magnificent, rich, and beautiful, but especially in

the finishing and furniture.

Grosvenor or Gravenor Square is bounded on the north by Oxford Road, on

the east by Hanover Square, by Mayfair on the south, and by Hyde Park on

the west; the area whereof contains about five acres of ground, in which

is a large garden laid out into walks, and adorned with an equestrian

statue of King George I. gilded with gold, and standing on a pedestal, in

the centre of the garden, the whole surrounded with palisades placed upon

a dwarf wall. The buildings generally are the most magnificent we meet

with in this great town; though the fronts of the houses are not all

alike, for some of them are entirely of stone, others of brick and stone,

and others of rubbed brick, with only their quoins, fascias, windows, and

door-cases of stone; some of them are adorned with stone columns of the

several orders, while others have only plain fronts; but they are so far

uniform as to be all sashed, and of pretty near an equal height. To the

kitchens and offices, which have little paved yards with vaults before

them, they descend by twelve or fifteen steps, and these yards are

defended by a high palisade of iron. Every house has a garden behind it,

and many of them coach-houses and stables adjoining; and others have

stables near the square, in a place that has obtained the name of

Grosvenor Mews. The finishing of the houses within is equal to the

figure they make without; the staircases of some of them I saw were

inlaid, and perfect cabinet-work, and the paintings on the roof and sides

by the best hands. The apartments usually consist of a long range of

fine rooms, equally commodious and beautiful; none of the houses are

without two or three staircases for the convenience of the family. The

grand staircase is generally in the hall or saloon at the entrance. In

short, this square may well be looked upon as the beauty of the town, and

those who have not seen it cannot have an adequate idea of the place.

The city of Westminster at this day consists of the parishes of St.

Margaret and St. John the Evangelist, and the liberties of Westminster,

viz., St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields; St. Mary le Savoy; St. Mary le Strand;

St. Clement’s Danes; St. Paul’s, Covent Garden; St. James’s, Westminster;

St. George’s, Hanover Square; and St. Anne’s, Westminster; all under the

government of the dean and chapter of Westminster, and their subordinate

officers; or rather, of a high steward, and such other officers as are

appointed by them; for since the Reformation, the dean and chapter seem

to have delegated their civil power to such officers as they elect for

life, who are not accountable to, or liable to be displaced by them, nor

are they liable to forfeit their offices, but for such offences as a

private man may lose his estate, namely, for high treason, felony, &c.,

as happened in the case of their high steward, the Duke of Ormond, upon

whose attainder the dean and chapter proceeded to a new election.

The next officer to the high steward is the deputy steward, appointed by

the high steward, and confirmed by the dean and chapter, who is usually a

gentleman learned in the law, being judge of their court for trial of

civil actions between party and party, which is held usually on Wednesday

every week. They have also a court-leet, held annually on St. Thomas’s

Day, for the choice of officers, and removal of nuisances. The

deputy-steward supplies the place of sheriff of Westminster, except in

the return of members of Parliament, which is done by the high bailiff,

an officer nominated by the dean and chapter, and confirmed by the high

steward. The high-bailiff also is entitled to all fines, forfeitures,

waifs and strays in Westminster, which makes it a very profitable post.

The high constable, chosen by the burgesses at their court-leet, and

approved by the steward or his deputy, is an officer of some

consideration in this city also, to whom all the rest of the constables

are subject.

The burgesses are sixteen in number, seven for the city and nine for the

liberties of Westminster, appointed by the high steward or his deputy,

every one of whom has his assistant, and has particular wards or

districts: out of these burgesses are chosen two chief burgesses, one for

the city, the other for the liberties. The dean, high steward, or his

deputy, the bailiffs and burgesses, or a quorum of them, are empowered to

make bye-laws, and take cognisance of small offences, within the city and

liberties of Westminster. But I look upon it that the justices of peace

for Westminster have in a great measure superseded the authority of the

burgesses (except as to weights, measures, and nuisances), by virtue of

whose warrants all petty offenders almost are apprehended and sent to

Tothill Fields Bridewell; and for higher offences, the same justices

commit criminals to Newgate, or the Gatehouse, who receive their trials

before commissioners of _oyer_ and _terminer_ at the Old Bailey, as

notorious criminals in the City of London do; and so far the two united

cities may be said to be under the same government.

The precinct of St. Martin’s-le-Grand, in London, is deemed a part of the

city of Westminster, and the inhabitants vote in the elections of members

of Parliament for Westminster.

The ecclesiastical government of the city of Westminster is in the dean,

and chapter, whose commissary has the jurisdiction in all ecclesiastical

causes, and the probate of wills; from whom there lies no appeal to the

Archbishop of Canterbury or other spiritual judge, but to the King in

Chancery alone, who upon such appeal issues a commission under the Great

Seal of England, constituting a court of delegates to determine the cause

finally.

I next proceed to survey the out-parishes in the Counties of Middlesex

and Surrey which are comprehended within the bills of mortality, and

esteemed part of this great town. And first, St. Giles’s in the Fields

contains these chief streets and places: Great Lincoln’s Inn Fields, part

of Lincoln’s Inn Garden, Turnstile, Whetstone Park, part of High Holborn,

part of Duke Street, Old and New Wild Street, Princes Street, Queen

Street, part of Drury Lane, Brownlow Street, Bolton Street, Castle

Street, King Street, the Seven Dials, or seven streets comprehending Earl

Street, Queen Street, White Lion Street, and St. Andrew’s Street,

Monmouth Street, the east side of Hog Lane, Stedwell Street, and Staig

Street.

Great Lincoln’s Inn Fields or Square contains about ten acres of ground,

and is something longer than it is broad, the longest sides extending

from east to west. The buildings on the west and south generally make a

grand figure.

In the parish of St. Sepulchre, which is without the liberties of the

City of London, we meet with Hicks’s Hall and the Charter House.

Hicks’s Hall is situated in the middle of St. John’s Street, towards the

south end, and is the sessions house for the justices of peace of the

County of Middlesex, having been erected for this end, anno 1612, by Sir

Baptist Hicks, a mercer in Cheapside, then a justice of the peace. The

justices before holding their sessions at the Castle Inn, near Smithfield

Bars.

To the eastward of Hicks’s Hall stood the late dissolved monastery of the

Charter House, founded by Sir Walter Manny, a native of the Low

Countries, knighted by King Edward III. for services done to this crown,

probably in the wars against France.

Sir Walter Manny at first erected only a chapel, and assigned it to be

the burial-place of all strangers; but in the year 1371 Sir Walter

founded a monastery of Carthusian monks here, transferring to these

fathers thirteen acres and a rood of land with the said chapel: the

revenues of which convent, on the dissolution of monasteries, 30 Henry

VIII., amounted to £642 4d. 1ob. per annum.

Sir Thomas Audley soon after obtained a grant of this Carthusian

monastery, together with Duke’s Place, and gave the former in marriage

with his daughter Margaret to Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, from whom it

descended to the Earl of Suffolk, and was called Howard House, the

surname of that noble family. By which name Thomas Sutton, Esq.,

purchased it of the Earl of Suffolk for £13,000, anno 1611, and converted

it into a hospital by virtue of letters patent obtained from King James

I., which were afterwards confirmed by Act of Parliament, 3 Charles I.

£ s. d.

The manors, lands, tenements, and 4493 19 10

hereditaments which the founder settled

upon this hospital amounted to, per annum

The revenues purchased by his executors, 897 13 9

&c., after his death, to per annum

Total of the charity per annum 5391 13 7

But the revenues now amount to upwards of £6,000 per annum by the

improvement of the rents. This charity was given for the maintenance of

fourscore old men, who were to be either gentlemen by descent reduced to

poverty, soldiers by sea or land, merchants who had suffered by piracy or

shipwreck, or servants of the King’s household, and were to be fifty

years of age and upwards at their admission, except maimed soldiers, who

are capable of being admitted at forty years of age. Nor are any to be

admitted who are afflicted with leprosy, or any unclean or infectious

disease, or who shall be possessed of the value of £200, or £14 per annum

for life, or who are married men. No poor brother to go beyond sea

without the licence of six of the governors, nor to go into the country

for above two months without the master’s leave, and during such absence

shall be allowed but two-thirds of his commons in money besides his

salary; and if a brother go out and is arrested he shall have no

allowance during his absence, but his place to be reserved till the

governors’ pleasure be known.

No brother to pass the gates of the hospital in his livery gown, or to

lie out of the house, or solicit causes, or molest any of the King’s

subjects, under a certain pecuniary pain; and all other duties, such as

frequenting chapel, decent clothing and behaviour, to be regulated by the

governors.

This munificent benefactor also founded a grammar school in the Charter

House, to consist of a master, usher, and forty scholars.

No scholars to be admitted at above fourteen or under ten years of age.

The scholars are habited in black gowns, and when any of them are fit for

the university, and are elected, each of them receives £20 per annum for

eight years out of the revenues of the house. And such boys who are

found more fit for trades are bound out, and a considerable sum of money

given with them.

When any of the forty boys are disposed of, or any of the old men die,

others are placed in their rooms by the governors in their turns.

The master is to be an unmarried man, aged about forty; one that hath no

preferment in Church or State which may draw him from his residence and

care of the hospital.

The preacher must be a Master of Arts, of seven years’ standing in one of

the universities of England, and one who has preached four years.

The governors meet in December, to take the year’s accounts, view the

state of the hospital, and to determine other affairs; and again in June

or July, to dispose of the scholars to the university or trades, make

elections, &c. And a committee of five at the least is appointed at the

assembly in December yearly, to visit the school between Easter and

Midsummer, &c.

The buildings of the Charter House take up a great deal of ground, and

are commodious enough, but have no great share of beauty. This house has

pretty much the air of a college or monastery, of which the principal

rooms are the chapel and the hall; and the old men who are members of the

society have their several cells, as the monks have in Portugal.

The chapel is built of brick and boulder, and is about sixty-three feet

in length, thirty-eight in breadth, and twenty-four in height. Here Sir

William Manny, founder of the Carthusian monastery, was buried; and here

was interred Mr. Sutton, the founder of the hospital, whose monument is

at the north-east angle of the chapel, being of black and white marble,

adorned with four columns, with pedestals and entablature of the

Corinthian order, between which lies his effigy at length in a fur gown,

his face upwards and the palms of his hands joined over his breast; and

on the tomb is the following inscription:—

“Sacred to the glory of God, in grateful memory of Thomas Sutton,

Esq. Here lieth buried the body of Thomas Sutton, late of Castle

Camps, in the County of Cambridge, Esq., at whose only cost and

charges this Hospital was founded and endowed with large possessions,

for the relief of poor men and children. He was a gentleman born at

Knayth, in the County of Lincoln, of worthy and honest parentage. He

lived to the age of seventy-nine years, and deceased the 12th day of

December, 1611.”

The Charter House gardens are exceeding pleasant, and of a very great

extent, considering they stand so far within this great town.