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On the 14th of June, the fine old edifice, called London House, in Aldersgate Street, which had formerly been the town residence of the bishops of London, was destroyed by fire.

The venerable and good Dr. Thomas Secker, archbishop of Canterbury, exchanged this life for a blessed immortality, on the third of August. His grace was a learned and pious prelate. His charity was unbounded, and numerous needy families had great reason to lament the loss of so great a benefactor.

By his will, he left all his optional livings, as they became vacant, to be disposed of by the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishop of London, and the bishop of Winchester, for the time being, in trust for them to give each option to that person, to whom they shall in their consciences think it would have been most reasonable and proper for him to give it, had it fallen in his grace's life-time. He left 13000/. in the three per cent. annuities, to Dr. Porteus (now bishop of London) and Dr. Stinton, his chaplain, in trust, that they paid the interest thereof to Mrs. Talbot, (daughter of his promoter in life, and grand-daughter of Dr. Talbot, bishop of Durham,) and her daughter, during their joint lives, or the life of the survivor of them, and after the decease of both these ladies, then eleven thousand of the thirteen thousand pounds to be transferred to the following charitable purposes: To the Society for propagating the Gospel in Foreign L Parts, for the general use of the society

- 1,000

To the said Society, towards the establishment of a
bishop, or bishops in the king's dominions in America 1,000
To the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge - 500
To the Irish Protestant working schools

500

To the Corporation of the Widows and Children of

the Poor Clergy

500

To the Society of the Sewards of the said charity

200

500

To Bromley college, in Kent

To the hospitals of the archbishop of Canterbury, at Croydon, St. John, at Canterbury, and St. Nicholas, Harbledown, 5007. each

1,500

Το

To St. George's and London hospitals, and the Lying-
In hospital, Brownlow Street, 500. each
To the Asylum, at Lambeth

To the Magdalen hospital, the Lock hospital near Hyde Park Corner, the Small Pox, and Inoculation hospitals, to each of which his grace was a subscriber, 300l. each

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Towards the repairing or rebuilding of houses belonging to poor livings in the diocese of Canterbury

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1,500

400

9C0

500

2,000

£.11,000

His grace left great part of his books to the public library at Lambeth; and among other excellent charities, he was a great promoter of, and benefactor to, the chapel at Stockwell, at which he preached his last sermon. His gift of the communion plate to that place of Divine worship, adds a grateful monument to his memory.

On the 11th of this month, Christian VII. king of Denmark, who had married on November the 8th, 1766, princess Carolina Matilda, his majesty's youngest sister, arrived on a visit to the royal family of England. He was attended by most of his great officers of state, and the utmost respect was paid to him by the British nation. A court of common council was held at Guildhall, on the 16th of September, when it was resolved, "that the right honourable the lord mayor be desired to wait on his majesty the king of Denmark, with the most respective compliments of this court, and to entreat his majesty to allow them the high honour of entertaining him at the Mansion House." His Danish majesty readily accepted the invitation, appointed Friday the 23d for the visit, and intimated his desire of coming to the city by water.

A committee of six aldermen and twelve commoners was then chosen to conduct the entertainment, and empowered to draw on the chamberlain for such monies as might be necessary for the expence. The companies that had barges 4 D 2

were

were summoned to attend the city barge; all the members of the common council desired to come to the entertainment in their gowns; and each received a ticket for the admission of ladies to the gallery.

On the appointed day, the lord mayor being indisposed, Sir Robert Ladbroke officiated as locum tenens. About ten o'clock in the morning, Sir Robert with the aldermen and sheriffs, attended by the city officers proceeded from Guildhall to the Three Cranes, at the bottom of Queen Street, Cheapside, the locum tenens, accompanied by deputy John Paterson, (who on this occasion was desired to act as interpreter) and the aldermen and sheriffs in their respective carriages. At eleven o'clock, they embarked on board the city barge, which was elegantly decorated, and supplied with an excellent band of music. The other companies attending also with their barges, the naval procession sailed up the river to the stairs at New Palace Yard, where a detachment of grenadiers belonging to the Artillery Company attended; and when notice was given of his Danish majesty's approach, the locum tenens, aldermen and sheriffs, immediately landed to receive and conduct him on board. As soon as he had entered the barge, the music began playing, and several cannon were fired on each side of the river. The Thames was covered with boats, and the different shores were crowded with innumerable spectators.

In order to give the royal visitor a compleat view of London, Westminster, the bridges, and the river, the state barge took a circuit as high as Lambeth, and from thence down as far as the Stillyard; during the course of which the king expressed great satisfaction, and several times came forward to gratify the curiosity of the people. From the Stillyard they returned to the Temple stairs, where the benchers of both societies received the king, conducted him to the Middle Temple Hall, and regaled him and his company with an elegant collation.

His majesty was then conducted to the city state coach, in which he took his seat on the right hand of the locum tenens, accompanied by his excellency count Bernsdorff and Mr. De

puty Paterson, followed by nine noblemen of his majesty's retinue, and by the aldermen and sheriffs in their carriages. In this manner he was conducted to the Mansion House, where he was received by the committee (appointed to manage the entertainment) in their mazarine gowns. He was first introduced to the great parlour, where, after he had rested a few minutes, Mr. Common Serjeant presented him with the compliments of the city. To this the king returned a very polite answer in the Danish language, which, by his permission, was interpreted to the company by Mr. Deputy Paterson, and was as follows:

"Gentlemen,

"I am highly sensible of the kindness of your expressions to me; I desire you will accept my best thanks in return, and be fully persuaded that I can never forget the affection which the British nation is pleased to shew me; and that I shall always be disposed to prove my grateful sense of it to them, and in particular to you, gentlemen, and this great, celebrated, and flourishing city which you govern."

On notice being given that dinner was served, the king, with the locum tenens on his left, was conducted by the committee into the Egyptian Hall. Before he took his seat, he walked round the hall, that the ladies (who made a most brilliant appearance in the galleries) might have a full view of his person; and all the gentlemen of the common council below, an opportunity of personally paying him their respects.

The king sat on the right hand of the locum tenens, at a table placed on an elevation, across the upper end of the hall. On the right hand of the king sat his noble attendants: on the left hand of the locum tenens were the aldermen above the chair; and fronting the king's table was a band of music in an orchestra, that had been erected on the occasion.

During the course of dinner, several appropriate toasts were drank, and proclaimed by sound of trumpet.

The dinner was exceedingly magnificent, at which the king several times experessed the highest satisfaction, as also at the grandeur of the Egyptian Hall, the brilliancy of the illuminations round it, and the excellence of the music.

After

After dinner his majesty was re-conducted into the great parlour, where he was presented with tea and coffee, and entertained with solos on different instruments by several distinguished performers.

About eight o'clock in the evening, the king took leave of the corporation, and returned to St. James's, amid prodigious crouds of people, who testified their satisfaction by continual shouts; and the inhabitants of the principal streets through which he passed shewed their respect by illuminating their houses.

At a court of common council held the 10th of October, the freedom of the city was unanimously voted to the king of Denmark, to be presented in a golden box of two hundred guineas value. His majesty was admitted into the Grocers company, and his freedom being afterwards given to his ambassador here, was by him transmitted to Copenhagen.

On the evening of the when day the above court was held, the king of Denmark, in return for the many civilities he had received during his residence here, gave a grand masquerade ball at the Opera House in the Haymarket, which was magnificently decorated for the purpose. His Danish majesty went in a private manner to the theatre, accompanied only by Count Holke, in his own coach and pair, and afterwards robed himself in masquerade in one of the dressing rooms. The noblemen of the king's retinue soon after followed in chairs, in their masquerade dresses, and the number of nobility and gentry was greater than had ever been known on a like occasion.-In this entertainment the king did not forget the corporation of London: he sent the lord mayor an hundred tickets for the masquerade, forty of which were directed, twenty-six to the aldermen, twelve to the commoners who were of the committee for preparing the entertainment, one to the recorder, and one to the common serjeant: the remainder were entrusted to his lordship's disposal, together with one hundred and fifty tickets for the gallery.

On

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