her own hand; there are also an easy chair, four others, and a screen,
all said to be the work of that excellent Queen. The work is extremely
neat; the figures are well shadowed, perhaps equal to the best
tapestry, and shew great judgment in drawing. Over the chimney piece
is an old painting, said to be Raphael’s, representing Jupiter’s
throne, by which is the thunder, and his eagle in the clouds.
The Queen’s gallery, which is about seventy feet long, and twenty-five
feet wide, is hung with seven beautiful pieces of tapestry,
representing the history of Alexander the Great, and done after the
famous paintings of Le Brun; they are however not placed according to
chronology, for some of the last actions of Alexander’s life are
placed before those which preceded them. Under that part of the
tapestry which represents the story of Alexander and Diogenes, and
which is placed over the chimney piece, is a very neat bust of a Venus
in alabaster standing upon an oval looking-glass, under which are two
doves billing in basso relievo. Among the other furniture in this
gallery, are two very fine tables of Egyptian marble.
The ceiling of the Queen’s state bed chamber is finely painted by Sir
J. Thorn-hill, who has represented Aurora rising out of the ocean in
her golden chariot, drawn by four white horses. The bed is of crimson
damask; and besides other furniture, the room is adorned with a glass
lustre with silver sockets. Over a large marble chimney piece is a
whole length of King James I. by Van Somer. At his right hand, over
one of the doors, is Queen Anne his consort; on his left, their
daughter the Princess Elizabeth, afterwards Queen of Bohemia; both by
Van Somer. Over the other door is a beautiful whole length of Henry
Prince of Wales, their eldest son, by Van Dyck. In the cornice are
four other portraits, one on each side, viz. his late Majesty K.
George I. his present Majesty King George II. the late Queen Caroline,
and the late Prince of Wales.
The Queen’s drawing room has the ceiling painted by Signor Verrio; in
the middle of which is the late Queen Anne, under the character of
Justice, holding the scales in one hand, and the sword in the other:
she is dressed in a purple robe lined with ermine; and Neptune and
Britannia are holding a crown over her head. The room is hung with
green damask, upon which are placed nine pictures, three on each side
of the room, and three at the end. These were formerly all in one
piece of a great length, as may be very plainly seen from some of the
figures being cut asunder, and placed in different pieces. The whole
is the triumph of Julius Cæsar, and was a long procession of soldiers,
priests, officers of state, &c. at the end of which that Emperor
appears in his triumphal chariot, with Victory holding a laurel crown
over his head. It is painted in water colours upon canvas, by Andrea
Mantegna.
The Queen’s state audience room is hung with rich tapestry,
representing the children of Israel carrying the twelve stones to the
river Jordan, as mentioned in Joshua iv. Here is a fine canopy of
state, and five pictures at full length, the Duke, Dutchess, and
Marchioness of Brunswick their daughter; the Dutchess of Lenox, and
Margaret Queen of Scots, all by Holbein.
The Prince of Wales’s presence chamber is hung with tapestry wrought
with the story of Tobit and Tobias. Here is a canopy of state of green
damask: over one of the doors is Guzman, and over another Gundamor,
two Spanish ambassadors: over the third is Madam Chatillon, the French
Admiral’s lady; and over the chimney, Lewis XIII. of France, with a
walking stick in his hand, and a dog by his side, all by Holbein.
The Prince of Wales’s drawing room is hung with tapestry, representing
Elymas the sorcerer struck with blindness; this is taken from one of
the cartons. Over the chimney piece is the Duke of Wirtemburg: over
one of the doors is a whole length of the wife of Philip II. King of
Spain; and over the other, a whole length of Count Mansfield, General
of the Spaniards in the Low Countries, all by Holbein.
The Prince of Wales’s bed chamber has a bed of green damask, and four
pictures also done by Holbein, viz. over the chimney piece is a whole
length of the Duke of Lunenbourg, great grandfather to his present
Majesty; over one of the doors Philip II. King of Spain; over another,
the consort of Christiern IV. King of Denmark; and over the third, a
whole length of the Prince of Parma, Governor of the Netherlands.
In the private dining room are four pictures of the defeat of the
Spanish Armada, by Vande Velde; and over the chimney a very fine one,
by Van Dyck, of the Lord Effingham Howard, Lord High Admiral of
England.
In the Admiral’s gallery are the pictures of the following celebrated
Admirals, Sir George Rooke, Sir Cloudsley Shovel, Sir John Leake, the
Lord Torrington, Admiral Churchill, Sir Stafford Fairborne, Sir John
Jennings, Sir Thomas Hopson, Admiral Beaumont, Sir Thomas Dilks,
Admiral Bembo, Admiral Whetstone, Admiral Wishart, Admiral Graydon,
Admiral Munden; all painted by Dahl, and Sir Godfrey Kneller.
In the room of Beauties, nine ladies are placed in the following
order: the Lady Peterborough, the Lady Ranelagh, the Lady Middleton,
Miss Pitt, the Duchess of St. Alban’s, Lady Essex, Lady Dorset, Queen
Mary, and the Duchess of Grafton. Q. Mary was painted by Wissing, and
all the rest by Sir Godfrey Kneller.
In the Carton gallery are the celebrated cartons of Raphael Urbino, so
called from their being painted on paper. These are seven pieces of
sacred history, taken from the New Testament, and were at first
designed only as patterns for tapestry. For these admirable pieces
Lewis XIV. is said to have offered 100,000 louis d’ors.
These pictures, which may be properly termed coloured drawings on
paper, as big as the life, are painted with great delicacy and beauty
in water colours. The first is the miraculous draught of fishes, in
which Christ appears in the boat with an air of divine gentleness. A
very ingenious modern author, whose words we shall chiefly follow in
the description of these admirable pieces, observes, that the exotic
birds, the magnificent large fowl placed on the shore in the fore
ground, have a sea wildness in them; and, as their food was fish,
contribute to express the business in hand, which is fishing; and
being thus placed on the shore, prevents the heaviness which that part
would otherwise have had, by breaking the parallel lines that would
have been made by the boat, and the base of the picture.
However in this carton Raphael has made a boat too little to hold the
figures he has placed in it; but had he made it large enough for those
figures, the picture would have been all boat; and to have made his
figures small enough for a vessel of that size, would have rendered
them unsuitable to the rest of the set, and less considerable: there
would have been too much boat, and too little figure.
The second, which is the delivery of the keys, has received some
injury, and is not now what Raphael made it. As this is the appearance
of our Saviour after the resurrection, present authority, late
suffering, humility and majesty, despotic command, and divine love,
are at once visible in his celestial aspect. He is wrapt only in one
large piece of white drapery, his left arm and breast are bare, and
part of his legs naked, which was undoubtedly done to denote his
appearing in his resurrection body, and not as before his crucifixion,
when this dress would have been altogether improper. The figures of
the eleven apostles all express the same passion of admiration, but
discover it differently according to their characters. Peter receives
his master’s orders on his knees, with an admiration mixed with a more
particular attention; the words used on that occasion are expressed by
our Saviour’s pointing to a flock of sheep, and St. Peter’s having
just received two keys. The two next express a more open ecstasy,
though still constrained by their awe of the divine presence. The
beloved disciple has in his countenance wonder drowned in love; and
the last personage, whose back is towards the presence, one would
fancy to be St. Thomas, whose perplexed concern could not be better
drawn, than by this acknowledgment of the difficulty to describe it.
The apostle who stands in profile immediately behind St. John, has a
yellow garment with red sleeves, which connects the figure with St.
Peter and St. John, whose draperies are of the same species of
colours; next is a loose changeable drapery, then another different
yellow with shadows bearing on the purple, all which produce wonderful
harmony.
The third is the miracle of healing the cripple at the Beautiful Gate
of the temple. All the figures are admirably performed; the boys are
done with great judgment, and by being naked make a fine contrast. The
figures are placed at one end near the corner, which varies the side
of the picture, and gives an opportunity to enlarge the building with
a fine portico, the like of which you must imagine must be on the
other side of the main structure, all which together make a noble
piece of architecture.
The fourth is the history of the death of Ananias. Here is the
greatest dignity in the apostles; they are however only a subordinate
group, because the principal action relates to the criminal; thither
the eye is directed by almost all the figures in the picture; what a
horror and reverence is visible in the whole assembly on this
mercenary man’s falling down dead!
The fifth is Elymas the sorcerer struck with blindness. His whole body
from head to foot expresses his being blind. How admirably are terror
and astonishment expressed in the people present? and how variously
according to their several characters? the Proconsul has these
sentiments but as a Roman and a gentleman, the rest in several degrees
and manners. The same sentiments appear in Ananias’s death, together
with those of joy and triumph, which naturally arise in good minds
upon the fight of the divine justice and the victory of truth.
What grace and majesty is seen in the great apostle of the gentiles,
in all his actions, preaching, rending his garments, denouncing
vengeance on the sorcerer! The Proconsul Sergius Paulus has a
greatness and grace superior to his character; and equal to what one
can suppose in Cæsar, Augustus, or Trajan.
The sixth is the sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas by the people of
Lycaonia. The occasion of this is finely told; the man healed of his
lameness, to express his sense of the divine power which appeared in
these apostles, and to shew it to be him, not only a crutch is under
his feet on the ground, but an old man takes up the lappet of his
garment, and looks upon the limb he remembers to have been crippled,
expressing great devotion and amazement; which are sentiments seen in
the other, with a mixture of joy.
The group of the ox and popa are taken from a bass relievo in the
Villa de Medici.
The seventh is St. Paul preaching to the Athenians. The divine orator
is the chief figure; but with what wonderful art are almost all the
different tempers of mankind represented in that elegant audience! one
is eminently distinguished as a believer, holding out his hands in
rapture, and has the second place in the picture; another is wrapped
up in deep suspense; another saying there is some reason in what he
says; another angry and malicious at his destroying some favourite
opinion; others attentive and reasoning on the matter within
themselves, or with one another; while the generality attend, and wait
for the opinion of those who are leading characters in the assembly.
Some are placed before the apostle, some behind, not only as caring
less for the preacher or the doctrine, but to raise the apostolic
character, which would lose something of its dignity, if his maligners
were supposed to be able to look him in the face.
This picture is conducted with the greatest judgment. The attitude of
St. Paul is as fine as possible, pointing out his hands to the statue
of Mercury, alluding to their idolatry; for the men of Lystra would
call him by that name, and worship him as a God presiding over
eloquence. Thus the picture shews the subject of his preaching. The
little drapery thrown over the apostle’s shoulder, and hanging down to
his waist, poises the figure, which otherwise would seem ready to
tumble forwards. The drapery is red and green, the back ground is
expressive of the superstition St. Paul was preaching against, as
above-mentioned. No historian, orator or poet, can possibly give so
great an idea of the eloquent and zealous apostle as this figure does:
for there we see a person, whose face and action no words can
sufficiently describe; but which assure us as much as those can, that
that divine man must speak with good sense and to the purpose.
There were in all twelve of these pieces, two of which are in the
possession of the French King: the King of Sardinia has two of the
others, and one belonged to a gentleman in England, who pledged it for
a sum of money: but when the person who had taken this valuable
deposit found it was to be redeemed, being very unwilling to part with
it, he greatly damaged the drawing; for which the gentleman brought
his action, and it was tried in Westminster hall, where the picture
was produced. The subject was Herod’s cruelty, and indeed, the cruel
malice of the person sued, seemed to flow from a principle perhaps
equally diabolical and inexcusable.
Over the chimney piece in this gallery is a fine bas-relief in white
marble of Venus drawn in her chariot, and attended by several Cupids.
We come next to the Queen’s staircase, where the ceiling is painted by
Vick. Here is King Charles II. and Catharine his Queen, with the Duke
of Buckingham representing Science in the habit of Mercury, while Envy
is struck down by naked boys. There are also other ornaments done by
Mr. Kent.
From the Queen’s stair case, we descend into a new quadrangle, in the
middle of which is a round bason, and four large lamps on pedestals of
iron work; and on the right hand over the windows, are the twelve
labours of Hercules done in fresco.
We shall conclude our account with observing, that the whole palace
consists of three quadrangles. The first and second are Gothic, but in
the latter is a most beautiful colonade of the Ionic order, the
columns in couplets, built by Sir Christopher Wren. Through this, as
was before observed, you pass into the third court or quadrangle, in
which are the royal apartments, which are magnificently built of brick
and stone by King William III. The print shews two sides of these new
buildings. The gardens are not in the present natural stile, but in
that which prevailed some years ago, when mathematical figures were
preferred to natural forms.
HANAPER _Office_, an office in Chancery under the direction of the
Master of the Hanaper, his deputy, the clerk, sometimes called the
Warden of the Hanaper, and the six clerks in Chancery for the time
being, who are comptrollers of the Hanaper. The clerk of the Hanaper
receives all money due for charters, patents, commissions, and writs;
attends the Lord Keeper daily in term time, and at all times of
sealing, with leather bags, in which are put all sealed charters,
patents, and the like; and delivered to the comptroller of the
Hanaper. Mr. Chamberlain supposes, that instead of leather bags the
clerk of the Hanaper formerly carried a hamper, and that from thence
he was called the clerk of the Hamper or Hanaper.
HAND _alley_, 1. High Holborn.* 2. Long alley, Moorfields.* 3. Norfolk
street.* 4. Petticoat lane and Bishopsgate street.* 5. Snow hill.* 6.
Wormwood street.*
HAND AND CROWN _alley_, Cow Cross.*
HAND AND PEN _alley_, Tower hill.*
HAND _court_, 1. Petticoat lane.* 2. Philip lane, London Wall.* 3. Near
the Steel yard, Thames street.*
HAND AND CROWN _court_, 1. Chiswell street.* 2. Gravel lane.* 3. Orchard
street.*
HAND AND HOLYBUSH _court_, St. Clement’s.*
HAND AND PEN _court_, 1. Barbican.* 2. Great Tower hill.* 3. Leadenhall
street.*
HANDCOCK’S _yard_, Brown’s lane, Spitalfields.*
HAND IN HAND _alley_, St. Olave’s street.*
HAND IN HAND FIRE OFFICE, in Angel court, Snow hill, opposite St.
Sepulchre’s church, for insuring only houses, was erected in the year
1696, by about one hundred persons, who entering into a mutual
agreement to insure each other from losses by having their houses
consumed by fire, formed a deed of settlement for that purpose, which
was inrolled in Chancery on the 24th of January 1698, and this deed
being signed by every person desirous of becoming a member, he or she
is by this means admitted into the joint copartnership, and becomes an
equal sharer in the profit and loss, in proportion to his or her
respective insurance.
The conditions of insurance are, two shillings _per cent._ premium,
and ten shillings _per cent._ deposit on brick houses, and double
those sums on timber houses in the cities of London and Westminster,
and within five computed miles from the same, to be paid on insuring
for a term not exceeding seven years.
Houses in the country, beyond five, and so far as twenty computed
miles from the said cities are to pay an additional premium of one
shilling _per cent._ on brick, and double on timber; and beyond twenty
so far as thirty computed miles from the said cities, being the limits
of insurance by this office, an additional premium of two shillings
_per cent._ on brick, and double on timber, the deposit being the same
in all places. Houses with party-walls of brick or stone are to be
accounted brick, and those which have not such party-walls to be
accounted timber houses. Thatched are not to be insured.
Any number of contiguous houses, not exceeding the value of three
hundred pounds, may be insured in one policy.
No more than two thousand pounds can be insured on one house in a
policy: but halls, hospitals, and other large buildings, divided by
brick or stone partitions, may each be insured in several policies.
At the expiration of policies, or whatever time the property in their
houses ceases, all persons may on application to the office, receive
the deposit, together with the dividends of profit made every year
from the premium and interest of money, after the charges of the
office are paid, deducting their proportion of contributions towards
losses, during the time they have been insured.
Hence it plainly appears, that the whole money paid on insuring, both
premium and deposit, is in effect only deposited, to make good losses
by fire and the charges of the office; it being all returned, except
what is applied to those purposes.
Contributions are laid when fires happen, and dividends made every
year by the Directors, which are registered in tables hung up in the
office, to be perused by the members.
All the members or persons insured, have the liberty of examining all
the books and papers of the office, at seasonable hours, gratis.
No person insured is obliged to pay above ten shillings _per cent._
Contribution for brick, and double for timber houses, more than the
money first deposited. This being now upwards of 80,000_l._ valuing
the public securities at _Par_, must all be exhausted by losses
happening almost together, before any call can be made from the
members.
The affairs of the office are managed by twenty-four Directors,
without any salary or reward, who are chosen by balloting for three
years, from amongst, and by the persons insured, in the way of an
annual rotation, eight new ones every year, on the three days
immediately preceding the general meeting in November. They meet at
the office in Angel court on Snow hill, to transact business, every
Tuesday at three in the afternoon.
Every house before it can be insured, must be surveyed by a person
employed by the office, and in case of a loss or damage, is to be put
into the condition it was in before the fire, allowing not more than
three shillings a yard for painting, nor above thirty pounds for any
chimney piece; or else the whole sum insured is to be paid to the
sufferer without any deduction.
Nothing is more evident than that the profits of insurance, which in
the offices insuring for gain are divided on their capital stock, are
here, together with the salaries of the Directors, applied to the
benefit of the insured. The consequence of which is, that this office
having paid above two hundred and fifty thousand pounds for losses;
the charge to the injured from its beginning in the year 1696, has
been at a medium under nine-pence a year for one hundred pounds
insured on brick houses.
The surveyors are to survey houses with all convenient expedition
after directions are left, without any fee or reward.
The clerks give constant attendance at the office, from eight in the
morning to six in the evening. _The proposals delivered by the Office,
October 10, 1758._
This company keep in their service thirty firemen, who are annually
clothed, and have each a badge, on which are two hands joined and a
crown over them.
HAND IN HAND _yard_, Old Horselydown lane.*
HAND _yard_, Thames street.*
HANGING LION _yard_, Nightingale lane, East Smithfield.*
HANGING SWORD _alley_, 1. Quaker street.* 2. Water lane, Fleet street.*
HANGING SWORD _court_, Water lane, Fleet street.*
HANGMAN’S _acre_, King David’s fort, near Bluegate fields.
HANGMAN’S GAINS, St. Catherines. Mr. Strype observes, that the towns of
Calais, Hammes, and Guisnes, being lost in the reign of Queen Mary,
many of the inhabitants fled to England, and wanting habitations, a
part of St. Catharine’s where this lane is now built, was allowed
them, which from the countries whence they came was called Hammes and
Guisnes, which at length by a vulgar corruption was changed to
Hangman’s gains.
HANGMAN’S GAINS _alley_, St. Catharine’s.
HANNOWAY _street_, Tottenham Court road.†
HANOVER _court_, 1. Grub street. 2. Houndsditch. 3. In the Minories.
HANOVER _square_, so called in compliment to the present royal family,
has Oxford road on the north; Swallow street in the east; Conduit
street on the south; and New Bond street on the west. The area of the
square contains about two acres of ground, in the middle of which is a
garden inclosed with rails; the houses are new built in the modern
taste; they make a grand appearance, and are inhabited by noblemen and
gentlemen of distinguished rank.
The author of the Review of the public buildings remarks, that the
upper end of Great George street towards Hanover square is laid out so
considerably wider than at the other end, that it quite reverses the
perspective, and shews the end of the vista broader than the
beginning; which was calculated to give a noble view of this square
from its entrance, and a better prospect down the street from the
other side, and both way the effects answer the intention. He adds,
that the view down George street, from the upper side of the square,
is one of the most entertaining in this whole city: the sides of the
square, the area in the middle, the breaks of building that form the
entrance of the vista, the vista itself, but above all, the beautiful
projection of the portico of St. George’s church, are all
circumstances that unite in beauty, and render the scene perfect.
HANOVER _street_, 1. Hanover square. 2. Long Acre. 3. Rotherhith Wall.
HANOVER _stairs_, Hanover street, Rotherhith.
HANOVER _yard_, St. Giles’s.
HANSON’S _alley_, St. Giles’s Broad street.†
HARCOURT’S _buildings_, Inner Temple.†
HARDING’S _alley_, Petty France, Westminster.†
HARE _alley_, Shoreditch.*
HARE _court_, 1. Aldersgate street.* 2. Hare street, Spitalfields.* 3.
Inner Temple.* 4. Little Knightrider’s street.* 5. Petticoat lane.* 6.
Upper Ground.*
HARE COURT _buildings_, Inner Temple.*
HAREFIELD, a village in Middlesex, near the river Coln, between
Rickmansworth and Uxbridge, about twenty miles from London. _Harefield
Place_ is the seat of Sir Roger Newdigate, Bart. Here also George
Cooke, Esq; the present member for the county of Middlesex, has a
handsome seat and park.
HARE _marsh_, Hare street.*
HARE _street_, Brick lane, Spitalfields.*
HARE _yard_, Hoxton.*
HARLEY _street_, as does most of the other streets near it, took its
name from the late Earl of Oxford, the ground landlord, who left it to
his lady. This is a noble new street, extending northward from
Cavendish square where Sir Richard Littleton’s house is at the corner.
HARP _alley_, 1. Grub street.* 2. Little Knightrider’s street.* 3.
Saffron hill.* 4. Shoe lane.*
HARP _court_, Little Knightrider’s street.*
HARP _lane_, Tower street.*