completely concealed under the street, is reported to have been so rapid in Queen Elizabeth's time, that a lad, eighteen years of age, attempting to leap it, when swelled by the rain, was carried away by the force of the flood and drowned. At the north-end of this street, towards the Mansion House, we meet with the celebrated church of St. Stephen's, Walbrook.

Of this edifice, a judicious writer observes, " Perhaps Italy itself can produce no modern building that can vie with this in taste and proportion; there is not a beauty the plan would admit of that is not found here in the greatest perfection; and foreigners very justly call our taste in question for understanding the graces no better, and allowing it no higher degree of fame." This reasoning principally applies to the interior, which, in addition to its own beauties, contains Mr. West's fine picture of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, over the altar.

The steeple rises square to a considerable height, and is then surrounded by a balustrade within, from which a very light and elegant tower ascends on two stages, the first adorned with Corinthian, and the second with columns of the Composite order, and covered with a dome. The roof within, over the middle aisle, is arched, and supported by columns and pilasters of the Corinthian order: there are three aisles and a cross aisle, covered with stone. The roof and cupola are adorned with an entablature, and arches ornamented with shields, palm branches, roses of fret work, and pannels of crocket work. The walls are wainscotted ten feet high, having the Grocers' arms within a handsome compartment of palm branches. At the north end of the cross aisle is a door case beautifully decorated with various kinds of fruits and leaves, and at the west end another, very magnificent. On the sides, under the lower roofs, are only circular windows; but those which enlighten the upper roofs are

small arched ones, and three noble ones at the end. The appearance of the whole edifice, upon the first entrance, has a very striking effect, the eye. being attracted by every part at once, the bases of the columns excepted, which are injudiciously concealed by the carving on the tops of the pews. The altar-piece and the pulpit are equally fine. It is scarcely necessary to say that the whole has been esteemed the master-pièce of Sir Christopher Wren.

The dimensions of this church are, length seventyfive feet, breadth fifty-six, altitude of the middle roof thirty-four feet; of the cupola and lantern fifty-eight feet; and of the tower, in which are three bells, to the top of the rail and banister, about seventy feet.

The Mansion House, the temporary residence of the Lord Mayors of London; naturally claims our attention as the next object of note. This edifice is constructed of Portland stone, and was finished in 1752. The portico is supported by six lofty fluted columns, of the Corinthian order, the same order being continued in the pilasters, both under the pediment and on each side. The basement story' is very massy and built in rustic. In the centre of this story is the door which leads to the kitchens, cellars, and other offices; and on each side runs a flight of steps, of very considerable extent, leading up to the portico; and the columns (which are wrought in the proportions of Palladio) support a large regular pediment, adorned with a very noble piece în bass-relief, representing the dignity and opulence of the city of London. Beneath the portico are two series of windows, which extend along the whole front, and above this is an attic story, with square windows, crowned with a balustrade. The building is an oblong, and its depth is the long side: it has an area in the middle and at the farthest end is the Egyptian hall, which is the length of the front, very high, and designed for pub lic entertainments. Near the ends, at each side, is a win

dow of extraordinary height, placed between coupled Corinthian pilasters, and extending to the top of the attic story. The inside apartments and offices are very 'elegantly furnished; and the bas-relief, over the grand 'pediment, is finely designed, and as beautifully executed, the principal figure of which represents the Genius of the city of London in the dress of the goddess Cybele, clothed with the imperial robe, alluding to London being the capital of this kingdom, with à crown of turrets on her head, in her right hand holding the prætorian wand, 'and leaning with her left on the city arms. She is placed between two pillars or columns, to express the stability of her condition; and on her right hand stands a naked boy, with the fasces in one hand, and the 'sword 'with the cap of liberty upon it in the other, to shew that authority and justice are the true' supporters of liberty, and that while the former are exerted with vigour the latter will continue in a state of youth. At her feet lies Faction, as it were in agony, with snakes twining round her head, intimating that the exact government of this city not only preserves herself, but retorts just punishment on such as envy her happy condition. "In the group, farther to the right, the chief figure represents a River God, his head crowned' with flags and rushes, his beard long, a rudder in his right hand, and his left arm leaning on an urn, which pours forth a copious stream. The swan at his feet, shews this to be the Thames; the ship behind; and the anchor and cable below him, very emphatically express the mighty tribute of riches paid by the commerce of this river to the city to which it belongs. On the left hand there appears a figure of a beautiful woman, in a humble posture, presenting an ornament of pearls with one hand, and pouring out a mixed variety of riches from a cornucopia, or horn of plenty, with the other. Behind her is a stork, and two naked boys playing with each other, and holding the neck of the

stork, to signify that pity, brotherly love, and mutual affection, produce and secure the vast stock of wealth of various kinds which appears near them in bales, bags, hogsheads, and many other sorts of merchandizes and emblems of commerce. The building is an oblong of vast extent, and the west side is adorned with two noble windows, between coupled Corinthian pilasters: still much of the interior is uncomfortably dark.

The situation of the Mansion House, upon low ground, has been generally condemned; it being selfevident that, with a more elevated situation and a good area around it, the grandeur of its appearance would have been considerably improved. The interior may be seen to the greatest advantage when the balls are given at Easter, or at any other time when the apartment, called the Egyptian Hall, is occupied.

Proceeding to the eastward, at a small distance from the Mansion House, we come to the church of St. Mary, Woolnoth, so called from the ancient wool-staple in this neighbourhood. The present structure, like many other churches in London, disfigured by the adjacent houses, was built in 1719: it is very substantial, but possesses nothing remarkable either in the interior or exterior.

The General Post Office, in Lombard-Street, is another of those public buildings in which utility has been preferred to every consideration of appearance; but as this is intended to be moved to a new edifice, soon to be built in St. Martin's-le-Grand, we shall pass by the present, considering any details of its internal economy and regulations out of place in a Pictorial Description of London.

With a much more pleasing exterior than that of the General Post Office, proceeding to the corner of Abchurch-Lane, we perceive the Phanix Fire Office, and nearly opposite to Abchurch-Lane, the Pelican Life Office.

The very striking and beautiful ornament of emblematical figures which decorates the front of the building is much admired, and is placed on the cornice of the fine stone front; a specimen of the most correct architecture, and considered as a master-piece of the late Sir Robert Taylor. The ideas, upon which the group was founded, were taken from the elegant pencil of Lady Diana Beauclerk, and were executed at Coade's manufactory by M. De Vááre, a most ingenious artist. The recumbent figure at the east end has been particularly admired for its graceful attitude and anatomical

correctness.

Lombard-Street contained the house and the shop of the truly patriotic Sir Thomas Gresham, whose origi nal sign, as a grocer, was the Grasshopper. The site of his residence is now occupied by that of Messrs. Martin and Co. bankers. Here also stood an ancient tavern built by Sir Simon Eyre, called the Cardinal's Hat; but for what reason this appellation was given, is now unknown. Here also, as a goldsmith, lived Mr. Matthew Shore, whose wife (since called Jane Shore) became the unhappy concubine of the licentious Edward the Fourth.

Returning to Cornhill, through Pope's Head Alley, the abode of stock-brokers, notaries, and mercantile persons, we may observe that this was formerly occupied by a vast stone building, a temporary residence of some of the ancient kings, as it reached to the western angle of the street, and was distinguished by the arms of England, before they were quartered, supported by two angels. Another division of this structure, was the Pope's Head Tavern, fronting Lombard-Street. Stow, in accounting for the origin of this remote mass of building, seems to have imagined that it belonged to King John.