were cast into bullets. It was attacked by the mob, when Wilkes rushed out and seized some of the ringleaders. Since this date, a military force has been stationed nightly within the Bank; a dinner is provided for the officer on guard and two friends. In the political tumult of November, 1830, provisions were made at the Bank for a state of siege. At the Chartist Demonstration of April 10, 1848, the roof of the Bank was fortified by Sappers and Miners, and a strong garrison within.

The Committee of Treasury sit weekly, and is composed of all the Directors who have passed the chair, except Mr. George Warde Nor man, whose great information as to the circulation qualifies him to sit although he has never been Governor. The Accountant, the Secretary and the Cashier reside within the Bank; and a certain number of Clerk: sit up nightly to go the round of the building, in addition to the mili tary guard. The number of Clerks was, in 1850, 700; and the salaries amounted to about a quarter of a million annually.

The Bank possess a very fine collection of ancient coins. Visitor are shewn some bank-notes for large amounts which have passed be tween the Bank and the Government, including a single note for One Million sterling.

Notes of the Bank, at its establishment, 20 per cent discount; in 1745 unde par. Bank Bills paid in silver, 1745. Bank Post Bills first issued, 1754. Smal Notes issued, 1759. Cash Payments discontinued, Feb. 25, 1797, and Notes of l and 27. put into circulation. Cash Payments partially resumed, Sept. 22, 1817 Restriction altogether ceased, 1821. May 14, 1832, upwards of 300,000l. weighe and paid to bankers and others. Quakers and Hebrews not eligible as Directors Qualification for Director, 20007. Bank Stock; Deputy Governor, 3000l.; Gover nor, 4000l. Highest price of Bank Stock, 299; lowest 91. The Bank has pai Dividends at the rate of 21 per cent, and as low as 4 per cent, per annum. Silve Tokens issued, Jan. 1798. Issue on paper securities not permitted to excee 14,000,000. Capital Punishment for forgery, excepting only forgeries of wills an powers of attorney, abandoned in 1832. (See Francis's popular History of th Bank of England, 3d edit. 1848.)

BANK, LONDON AND WESTMINSTER.

This banking-house, facing the north-east angle of the Bank of Eng land, in Lothbury, has some striking architectural merits. It was com pleted in 1838; architects, Cockerell and Tite. It occupies eighty fee frontage, and ninety feet depth: the front, of Portland stone, is on plane, or general face, and proves that a splendid building may b erected without columns or pilasters. The windows are set, as it were between piers; the lower ones divided by bronzed candelabra, and th upper ones having side-panels, decorated with caducei and fasces, expres sive of the vis unita fortior of the joint-stock association of the esta blishment. The attic story has a cornice and balustrade, which giv dignity to the whole façade. At the extremities are bold piers, su mounted by sitting figures-the City of London at the east end, an the City of Westminster at the west; both modelled by Cockerell, a executed by Nichol.

The interior is very original: the principal apartment, the "Tow Bank," exceeds even the offices of the Bank of England in height; it a square of about thirty-four feet, as high as the entire building, fift nine feet six inches. East and west are aisles to a portion of th height, with balustraded galleries; their sides being divided from t centre by an arcade springing from Doric columns; and the vast ha surrounded closely with lofty buildings, is mainly lighted by a don and semicircular Diocletian windows from above. Cost of the buildin about 50,000Z.

BARBICAN,

A spacious thoroughfare, connecting Finsbury Square with Alder

gate-street, and named from a burgh-kenin, barbican, or watch-tower, where now is the Watchhouse; the same being built on high ground, and of some good height: from thence "a man," says Stow, "might bebold and view the whole city towards the south, and also into Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, and likewise every other way, east, north, or west.' Here also were the mansions of the Bridgewater family and Sir Thomas Wriothesley, Garter-King-at-Arms; whence Brackley-street and Gar

ter-court.

BARCLAY AND PERKINS' BREWERY,

In Park-street, Southwark, is the largest establishment of its class in the kingdom, or in the world. It may be inspected by a letter of introduction to the proprietors; and a large number of the foreigners of distinction who visit the metropolis avail themselves of such permission.

The Brewery and its appurtenances occupy about twelve acres of ground, immediately adjoining Bankside, and extending from the landarches of Southwark Bridge nearly half of the distance to those of London Bridge. Within the Brewery walls is said to be included the site of the famous Globe Theatre, which Shakspeare has bound so closely up with his own history:" in a history of the neighbourhood, dated 1795, it is stated that "the passage which led to the Globe Tavern, of which the playhouse formed a part, was, till within these few years, known by the name of Globe-alley, and upon its site now stands a large storehouse for porter." We are inclined to regard this evidence as traditional However, the last Globe Theatre was taken down about the time of the Commonwealth; and so late as 1720, Maid-lane (now called New Park-street), of which Globe-alley was an offshoot, was a long straggling place, with ditches on each side, the passage to the houses being over little bridges, with little garden-plots before them.— Strype's Stow.)

Early in the last century there was a Brewery here, comparatively very small: it then belonged to a Mr. Halsey, who, on retiring from it with a large fortune, sold it to the elder Mr. Thrale; he became Sheriff of Surrey and M.P. for Southwark; and died in 1758, leaving his property to a son, the friend of Dr. Johnson, who, from 1765 to the brewer's death, lived at the Brewery, and at his villa at Streatham. Before the fire at the Brewery, in 1832, a room was pointed out, near the entrance gateway, which the Doctor used as a study, and wherein he wrote

part

t of his Dictionary. In 1781, Mr. Thrale died; and as he had no es, his executors, of whom Dr. Johnson was one, sold the Brewery jointly to Mr. Barclay and Mr. Perkins (the latter of whom had been superintendent of the Brewery,) for the sum of 135,000l.; and the property is now held by the descendants of those gentlemen. The concern in Thrale's time must have been comparatively small, for he did not brew annually more than one-twelfth part of the quantity now brewed by the same establishment. Nevertheless, we remember it of considerably less extent, about thirty years since. In 1832 a great portion of

the old premises

was

irun, stone, and brick.

destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt; mostly of

At the

Having crossed by Southwark Bridge to the Surrey side, we descend from Bridge-road to New Park-street, which is flanked by lofty buildings, connected by a covered bridge or passage; these are ranges of termination of New Park-street we proceed southward, through Parkmalthouses, extending northward, with a wharf to Bankside. street, both sides of which are the Brewery buildings, connected by a light suspension bridge; to the right is the vast brewhouse and principal entrance. From the roof of nearly the middle of the premises may

be had a bird's-eye view of the whole.

The water used for brewing is that of the river Thames, pumped up by a steam-engine through a large iron main, which passes under the malt warehouses, and leads to the "liquor-backs," two cisterns, which, as well as their supporting columns, are of cast-iron, and reach an elevation of some 40 feet. By this means the establishment may be supplied with water for brewing to the extent of a hundred thousand gallons daily. There is on the premises an Artesian well 367 feet deep; but its water, on account of its low temperature, is principally used for cooling the beer in hot weather.

The machinery is worked throughout the Brewery by steam; there are two of Boulton and Watt's engines, of 45 and 30 horse power, the latter constructed in 1780. The furnace-shaft is 19 feet below the surface, and 110 feet above; and, by its great height, denotes the situa tion of this gigantic establishment among the forest of Southwark chimneys.

The malt is carried from barges at the river-side by porters, and deposited in enormous bins, each of the height or depth of an ordinary three-storied house. There are few rats here, for they betake themselves to the strong drinks elsewhere on the premises; but they are all kept in check by a standing army of cats, some forty-five in number, who are regularly fed and maintained.

The malt is conveyed to be ground in tin buckets upon an endless leather band, (" Jacob's Ladder"); and thus carried to the height of 60 or 70 feet, in the middle of the Great Brewhouse. This stupendous room is built entirely of iron and brick, and is lighted by eight large and lofty windows. There is no continuous floor; but looking upwards, whenever the steamy vapour permits, there may be seen at various heights, stages, platforms, and flights of stairs, all subsidiary to the cyclopean piles of brewing vessels. The coals, about 20 tons per day, are drawn up from below by tackle, and wheeled along a railway; and the smoke from all the furnaces is conveyed by a large subterranean flue to the great chimney shaft already mentioned.

West of the Brewhouse are large buildings, with cooling floors, into which is pumped the hot wort, or beer. The surface of one floor is not less than 10,000 square feet; and, in case of need, the men wear gigantic pattens to cross the vast lakes of beer. Sometimes, the beer is more rapidly cooled by passing a refrigerator in close contact with cold spring

water.

Both porter and ale are brewed in the large Brewhouse; but the ale is carried by pipes along the suspension-bridge, across Park-street, to the opposite building, and is there cooled, fermented, and tunned.

The cold beer is fermented in vast rooms, or squares, one of which will hold 1500 barrels. The surface of one of these squares nearly filled is a strange sight; the yeast rises in rock-like masses, which yield to the least wind, and the gas hovering in pungent mistiness over the ocean of beer.

The beer is next conveyed to the tun-room, where are nearly 300 cylindrical vessels, or rounds, each holding upwards of 300 gallons; and sunk in the floor is a tank, 100 feet by 20 feet. The beer is then conducted through large pipes to "No. 9," where are 180 stupendous tuns, in 16 storehouses. One of the largest of these vats will contain about 3500 barrels of porter, which, at the selling price, would yield 90007. The "Great Tun of Heidelberg" holds but half this quantity. The ave rage capacity of the vats, large and small together, is upwards of 30,000 gallons. From them the beer is drawn by hose into butts, of 108 gallons each. The aggregate number of casks used by the Brewery exceeds 60,000.

The Large Brewhouse has been known to work throughout the

year, Sundays and seven breaking-days excepted. Often 600 quarters of malt are brewed daily.

There are 180 horses employed in the cartage department. They are brought principally from Flanders, and cost from 50l. to 80%. each. There are annually consumed by these horses 5000 quarters of oats, beans, or other grain, which are bruised, 450 tons of clover, and 170 tons of straw for litter. The manure, spent hops, and other refuse, are let yearly; and the lessee employs a railway company to take them from the premises to his farm. There are four partners in this house: they pay their head brewer a salary of 10007. The following is a statement of the malt used by several of the principal London brewers in 1849, which is an average for some years past:

Qrs.

105,022

59,617

56,640

51,800

43,282

BAROMETER (THE) IN LONDON.

The average monthly readings of the Barometer in London,'as found from the observations made at the Royal Society, are as follow:

April 29-82

Aug. 29.86

Oct.

29.81

Nov. 29.76

Dec. 29.79

Hence the greatest monthly mean reading of the Barometer occurs in

June, and the least in November.

The following table shews the difference of the mean reading of the Barometer in different years in the same months:

Thus, we see that the mean monthly reading of the Barometer in the winter months, between one year and another, exceeds three-quarters of an inch; and that in the summer months the difference is less than half an inch. The month of February seems to be subject to the greatest change, and the month of June to the least.

The annual range of readings is nearly two inches. The reading sometimes almost as low as 28 inches, and at times as high as 31 ches nearly. In February, 1849, the reading of the Barometer was sally high; and for a long time its mean reading, from the 1st to the 14th, was 30-55 inches, or fully half an inch above its average Fake. On the day this very high reading ended at London, the Baroeter reading at Boston in America began to increase; and during the following eighteen days, the reading there was at the same value as it We at London from Feb. 1 to Feb. 18. This great atmospheric wave, therefore, seems just to have reached from England to America; and its

rate of motion appears to have been the same whilst passing over both countries.

Barometers, hitherto rare, and confined to the cabinets of virtuosi, were first sold publicly in the metropolis by Jones, a clockmaker, of Inner Temple Lane, who made the instrument at the suggestion of Lord Keeper Guildford.

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR

Originated in two Fairs or Markets, proclaimed on the Eve of St. Bartholomew, and continued during the next day and the next morrow. One Fair was granted to the Priory of St. Bartholomew, in Smithfield, for the clothiers of England and the drapers of London, who had their booths and standings within the Priory churchyard (the site now Cloth Fair), the gates of which were locked every night and watched, for the safety of the goods and wares. The grant is by some referred to Henry II.; but there is a charter from Henry I., granting "free peace" to all persons frequenting the fair of St. Bartholomew. Within its limits was also held a Court of Pie-poudre, by which persons infringing upon the laws of the Fair, its disputes, debts, &c., were tried the same day, and the punishment of the stocks or whipping-post summarily inflicted. The second Fair, for cattle, stands and booths for goods, with tolls and profits, was granted to the City of London, to be held "in the field of West Smithfield." At the dissolution of religious houses, the right in the first-mentioned Fair was sold to Sir John Rich, the then Attorney-General, and was enjoyed by his descendants till the year 1830, when it was purchased of Lord Kensington by the Corporation. It greatly declined as a "Cloth Fair" from the reign of Queen Elizabeth; and the Corporation granted licenses to mounte banks, conjurors, &c., and allowed the Fair to be fourteen days, the sword-bearer and other city officers being paid out of the emoluments. Hentzner, in 1578, describes a tent pitched for the proclamation, and wrestling after the ceremony, with the crowd hunting wild rabbits for the sport of the mayor and aldermen. There was formerly a burlesque proclamation on the night before, by the drapers from Cloth Fair, snapping their shears and shouting in Smithfield.

Ben Jonson, in his play of Bartholomew Fair, tells us of its motions, or puppet-shows, of Jerusalem, Nineveh, and Norwich; and "the Gunpowder Plot, presented to an eighteen or twenty pence audience nine times in an afternoon." The showman paid three shillings for his ground; and a penny was charged for every burden of goods and little bundle brought in or carried out. A rare tract of the year 1641 describes the "variety of Fancies, the Faire of Wares, and the several enormityes and misdemeanours" of the Fair of that period. At these, the sober-minded Evelyn was shocked; and Pepys (Aug. 30, 1667) found at the Fair "my Lady Castlemaine at a puppet-show," her coach waiting, "and the street full of people expecting her." The sights and shows included wild beasts, dwarfs, and other monstrosities; operas, and tight-rope dancing, and sarabands; dogs dancing the Morrice, and the hare beating the tabor; a tiger pulling the feathers from live fowls; the humours of Punchinello, and drolls of every degree. The public theatres were closed during the fair-time, the drolls finding St. Bartholomew's more profitable than Dorset Garden or old Drury Lane. An ox roasted whole, and piping-hot roast pig, sold in savoury lots, were among the Fair luxuries, the latter called Bartholomew Pigs.

At length, the fourteen days' carnival proved too long. According to Strype, in 1708, it was again restricted to three days; and in 1735, the Court of Aldermen resolved that no acting should be per