WALK I.

From the Royal Exchange, through Cornhill, LeadenhallStreet, Aldgate, Minories, Tower-Hill and its vicinity; thence through Thames-Street to London-Bridge; Fish-Street Hill, Little Eastcheap, Tower-Street, to Crutched Friars; Fenchurch-Street, GracechurchStreet, back to Cornhill.

Of this part of the city, which, in more than one sense, may be called eminent, it has been observed, "the progression from rude to polished manners has been by no means rapid," as only a few centuries since the front of the Royal Exchange, at present the centre of intercourse among some of the most enlightened men in the world, was the site of a dungeon, a loathsome prison, called, THE TUN. The merchants, previous to the reign of Queen Elizabeth, met as well as they could in Lombard Street.

An inscription on the pump, on the south side of the Royal Exchange, expresses, that on this spot a well was first made by Henry Wallis, Mayor of London, in the year 1282. The well underneath, on which the present pump is erected, was re-discovered in 1799.

The Royal Exchange, situated in Cornhill, was originally built in 1557, by Sir Thomas Gresham, one of the greatest merchants in this or any other country, after the model of that at Antwerp. Being destroyed by the Fire of London in 1666, it was rebuilt in its present form for the City and the Company of Mercers, as trustees for Sir Thomas Gresham, by Sir Christopher Wren, and was opened in 1669. There are many beauties in the architecture, and but few defects. The four orders of the quadrangle are magnificent, and all in correct proportion and arrangement. The statues

of Charles the First and Second in the front are beautifully executed; and there are also statues of most of the sovereigns of England. Underneath, over the west walk, are statues to Sir Thomas Gresham and Sir John Barnard, as marks of civic respect.

The height of the building is 56 feet; and from the centre of the south side rises a lantern, 178 feet high, of three gradations, the top displaying a vane, in the form of a grasshopper, the crest of Sir Thos. Gresham.

The rooms over the colonades are let out to the Royal Exchange Assurance Company, the office of the Lord Mayor's Court, Lloyd's Coffee House, and for reading the Gresham lectures. But it should be observed that the merchants who frequent Lloyd's Coffee House are of the first consequence,-that the news is the most to be credited that is " up at Lloyd's,"—and here subscriptions are generally set on foot for the greatest national purposes.

Suffice it to add, that the inside of the area, 144 feet long and 117 broad, is surrounded by piazzas, forming walks for the merchants; and above the arches in this quadrangle is an entablature, extending round, and a compass pediment, containing the statues of several of the kings and queens of England, with their names beneath them. In the centre of the area is the statue of Charles the Second, in a Roman habit. This new statue, by Bacon, was placed here in 1792. The walls, inside of the area, containing the walks, are covered with notices from different tradesmen, and artists, handsomely written, framed or glazed, announcing their manufactures, inventions, residence, &c. for the consideration of a very moderate sum paid to the beadle.

Cornhill.—Where the Poultry and Leadenhall-Street ends, Cornhill commences. From the south side, among the turnings which branch off, are Gracechurch-Street at its junction with Leadenhall-Street, St. Peter's-Al