of this country who died possessed of property in the south of England. The office hours at the Prerogative Will Office are 9 to 3 in winter, and 9 to 4 in summer. The charges for searching the calendars of names is 1s. for every name. The charge for seeing the original will is a shilling extra. Persons are not allowed to make even a pencil memorandum, but official copies of wills may be had at eightpence per folio. At the other Record Offices you are permitted to make extracts and memoranda.

COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS AND DOCKS.

BANK OF ENGLAND, THREADNEEDLE-STREET, CITY,— "the principal Bank of Deposit and Circulation; not in this country only, but in Europe," was founded in 1694, and grew out of a loan of 1,200.0001. for the public service. Its principal projector was Mr. William Paterson, an enterprising Scotch gentleman; who, according to his own account, commenced his exertions for the establishment of a National Bank in 1691. By the laws and regulations which he left behind, no Scotchman can be eligible to fill the post of a Director.

The business of the Bank was carried on in Grocers' Hall, in the Poultry, from its foundation in 1694 to 1734, when it was removed to an establishment of its own (part of the present edifice), designed by Mr. George Sampson. East and west wings were added by Sir Robert Taylor, between 1766 and 1786. Sir John Soane subsequently receiving the appointment of architect to the Bank, and the business increasing, much of the old building was either altered or taken down, and the (one-storied) Bank, much as we now see it, covering an irregular area of four acres, was completed by the same architect. There is little to admire in it: parts, however, are good. Yet it has the merit of being well adapted for the purposes and business of the Bank. The corner towards Lothbury, though small, is much admired. The copings made since the Chartist meeting on the memorable 10th of April were added by C. R. Cockerell, R.A., the present architect to the Bank. The area in the centre, planted with trees and shrubs, was formerly the churchyard of St. Christopher, Threadneedle-street. The management

of the Bank affairs is vested in a Governor, Deputy-Governor, and twenty-four Directors, eight of whom go out every year. The qualification for Governor is 4000l. Stock, DeputyGovernor 3000l., and Director 20007. The room in which the Directors meet is called the Bank Parlour. The profits of the Bank accrue from interest on Exchequer-bills, discounts of commercial bills, interest on the capital lent to Government, an allowance of about 70,000l. a year for managing the Public Debt, and some other sources. The dividend received by the proprietors is 7 per cent. In the lobby of the Parlour is a portrait of Abraham Newland, who rose from a baker's counter to be chief clerk of the Bank of England, and to die enormously rich. Madox, who wrote the History of the Exchequer, was the first chief cashier. The number of clerks employed is about 800, and the salaries rise from 50l. to nearly 2000l. a year. The cost in salaries alone is about 190,000l. a year. A valuable library, intended for the especial use of the clerks, has recently been established in the Bank by the liberality of the Directors. The Bullion Office is situated on the northern side of the Bank, in the basement story, and formed part of the original structure, but has since been enlarged. It consists of a public chamber for the transaction of business, a vault for public deposits, and a vault for the private stock of the Bank. The duties are discharged by a Principal, a Deputy-Principal, Clerk, Assistant Clerk, and porters. In the process of weighing, a number of admirably-constructed balances are brought into operation. A large balance, invented by Mr. Bate, weighs silver in bars, from 50 lbs. to 80 lbs. troy ;-a balance, invented in 1820, by Sir John Barton, of the Mint, weighs gold coin in quantities varying from a few ounces to 18 lbs. troy, and gold in bars of any weight up to 15 lbs. ;-a third, invented by Mr. Bate, weighs dollars to amounts not exceeding 72 lbs. 2 oz. troy. These instruments are very perfect in their action, admit of easy regulation, and are of durable construction. The public are admitted to a counter, separated from the rest of the apartments, but are on no account allowed to enter the bullion vaults. The amount of bullion in the possession of the Bank of England constitutes, along with their securities, the assets which they place against their liabilities, on account of circulation and deposits; and the difference (about three millions) between the several amounts is called the "Rest," or guarantee fund to provide for the contingency of possible losses. Gold is almost exclusively obtained by the Bank in the "bar" form; although no form of the deposit would be refused. A bar of gold is a small slab, weighing 16 lbs.. and

worth about 8007. In the weighing office is the balance made by Mr. Cotton, with glass weights, and weighing at the rate of 33 sovereigns a minute. The machine appears to be a square brass box, in the inside of which, secure from currents of air, is the machinery. This wonderful and ingenious piece of mechanism is so contrived, that, on receiving the sovereigns, it discriminates so as to throw those of full weight into one box, and to reject those of light weight into another. Do not omit to see the wonderful machinery invented by Mr. Oldham, by which Bank-notes are printed and numbered with unerring precision, in progression from 1 to 100,000; the whole accompanied by such a system of registration and checks as to record everything that every part of the machine is doing at any moment, and render fraud impossible. The value of Bank-notes in circulation in one quarter of a year is upwards of 18,000,000l., and the number of persons receiving dividends in one year is about 284,000. The Stock or Annuities upon which the Public Dividends are payable amount to about 774,000,000l., and the yearly dividends payable thereupon to about 25,000,000l. The issue of paper on securities is not permitted to exceed 14,000,000l. In 1844 the Bank Charter was continued till 1855. The mode of admission to view the Bank is by an order from the Governor, Deputy-Governor, or any of the Directors. The commonest almanack or pocket-book is sure to contain a list of Bank Directors for the current year.

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE, (a quadrangular edifice, with a portico on the W. side facing down Cheapside; and the third building of the kind on the same site,) erected for the convenience of merchants and bankers; built from the designs of William Tite, and opened by Queen Victoria, Oct. 28th, 1844. The pediment was made by R. Westmacot, R.A. (the younger). The building contains an open court or quadrangle, surrounded by a colonnade; a marble statue of her Majesty, by Lough; and statues of Sir Thomas Gresham, Sir Hugh Myddelton, and Queen Elizabeth, by Messrs. Joseph, Carew, and Watson. It is said to have cost 180,000l. The hour of 'Change, the busy period, is from half-past 3 to half-past 4 p.m. The two great days on 'Change are Tuesday and Friday. The Rothschilds occupy a pillar on the S. side of the Exchange. In the E. part, up-stairs, are Lloyd's Subscription Rooms (originally Lloyd's Coffee House), the centre and focus of all intelligence, commercial and political, domestic and foreign, where merchants,

shippers; and underwriters attend to obtain shipping intelligence, and where the business of Marine Insurance is carried on through the medium of underwriters. There is no one engaged in any extensive mercantile business in London who is not either a member or subscriber to Lloyd's; and thus the collective body represents the greater part of the mercantile wealth of the country. The entrance to Lloyd's is in the area, near the eastern gate of the Royal Exchange. A wide flight of steps leads to a handsome vestibule, ornamented by marble statues of Prince Albert, by Lough; the late William Huskisson, by Gibson, R.A., presented by his widow. On the walls are the tablet, erected as a testimonial to the Times Newspaper, for the public spirit displayed by its proprietor in the exposure of a fraudulent conspiracy. In this vestibule are the entrances to the three principal subscription-rooms-the Underwriters', the Merchants', and the Captains' Room.

The affairs of Lloyd's are managed by a committee of nine members. The chairman is elected annually: he is generally a merchant of eminence and a member of Parliament. There is a secretary and 8 clerks, 8 waiters, and 5 messengers. The expenses amount to upwards of 10,000l. per annum. The income is derived from the subscriptions of about 1900 members and subscribers, and substitutes; the payments from the insurance and other public companies; the advertising of ships' bills, and the sale of Lloyd's List. Each member pays 25l. admission, and an annual subscription of 4l. 48.; but if an underwriter, 107. 10s. Annual subscribers to the whole establishment pay four guineas, or if to the Merchants' Room only, then two guineas. The admission is by ballot of the committee, on the recommendation of six subscribers.

What is called Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping, is in No. 2, White-Lion-court, Cornhill, and was established in 1834. The object of the society was to obtain a knowledge of the condition of the mercantile shipping, by means of careful surveys to be made by competent surveyors, and thus to secure an accurate classification according to the real and intrinsic worth of the ship. The affairs of the Society which instituted this book are managed by a committee consisting of 24 members, namely, 8 merchants, 8 shipowners, and 8 underwriters. Six members (2 of each of the description just mentioned) retire annually, but are eligible to be re-elected. The right of election rests equally with the committee for Lloyd's, and the committee of the General Shipowners' Society.