have their names printed, and the day and yeare set down when printed on the Thames: this humour tooke so universally, that 'twas estimated the printer gain'd 51. a day, for printing a line only, at sixpence a name, besides what he got by ballads, &c. Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several other staires to and fro, as in the streetes; sleds, sliding with skeetes, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet-plays, and interludes, cookes, tipling, and other lewd places, so that it seem'd to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival on the water."" “It is singular, Master Postern,” said I, as he finished this extract, 66 that the author whom you have now quoted, never once mentions that King Charles the Second visited these diversions, and even had his name printed on the ice, with those of several other personages of the Royal Family. The author of some curious verses, entitled, 'Thamasis's Advice to the Painter, from her Frigid Zone; or Wonders upon the Water. London: Printed by G. Croom, on the River of Thames,' 74 lines, small folio, half sheet, says, Then draw the King, who on his Leads doth stay, "The original of this poem is in the possession of my friend, Mr. William Upcott, of the London Institution, whose invaluable collection of rarities can also boast one of the very papers on which the King and his royal companions had their names printed! This truly interesting document consists of a quarter sheet of coarse Dutch paper, on which, within a type border, measuring 3 inches by 4, are the magnificent names of CHARLES, KING. JAMES, DUKE. ANN, PRINCESSE. HANS IN KELDER. London: Printed by G. Croom, on the ICE, on 6 66 Here, then, we have King Charles the Second; his brother James, Duke of York, afterwards James the Second; Queen Catherine, Infanta of Portugal; Mary D'Este, sister of Francis, Duke of Modena, James's Second Duchess; the Princess Anne, second daughter of the Duke of York, afterwards Queen Anne; and her husband, Prince George of Denmark : and the last name, which I think was doubtless a touch of the King's humour, signifies Jack in the Cellar,' alluding to the pregnant situation of Anne of Denmark. This most remarkable paper may, with great probability, be considered unique; and not to mention several of a similar nature containing common names, I may notice to you that there is in the same collection another bearing the noble titles of Henry, Earl of Clarendon,' son of the Chancellor; Flora, Countess of Clarendon,' and ‹ Edward, Lord Cornbury.' The date of this is February 2, and I will conclude these notices of printing on the ice, by some lines from the poem I have already quoted, which tell its readers 6 to the Print-house go, Where Men the Art of Printing soon do know: Where, for a Teaster, you may have your Name And sure, in former Ages, ne'er was found, A Press to print, where men so oft were dround!' "' "I am very much bounden to you, honest Mr. Geoffrey," recommenced the Antiquary, as I concluded, "for these most appropriate and interesting illustrations: for although the sports of this frost can hardly be said to form an immediate portion of the history of London Bridge, yet so memorable an event on the Thames well deserves some pains to be bestowed in recording it. "The principal scene of this Blanket-Fair, indeed,— for so the tents and sports on the Thames were denominated,—was opposite to the Temple stairs, for few, or none, of the festivities approached very near to London Bridge; as we are informed by the many rude but curious memorials of it which are yet in existence. One of the most interesting of these is an original and spirited, though unfinished, sketch in pencil, slightly shaded with Indian ink; supposed to have been the production of Thomas Wyck, an artist particularly eminent for his views at this period. In the right hand corner, at the top, the drawing is dated in an ancient hand, Munday, February the 4: 1683-4;' and it consists of a view down the River from the Temple-stairs to London Bridge, the buildings of which are faintly seen in the back-ground. In front appear various groups of figures, and a side prospect of that line of tents which stretched all across the Thames, known during the frost by the name of Temple-street. You will find this drawing in vol. viii. of Mr. Crowle's Illustrated Pennant, in the British Museum, after p. 262; and it measures 28 inches by 93. Gough, in his British Topography,' vol. i., pp. 731, 784*, mentions several other publications illustrative of this frost, some of which are also in the same volume of Mr. Crowle's Pennant, and the principal particulars of them I shall give you briefly in the following list. 6 "A large copper-plate, 20 inches by 16g, entitled, 'A Map of the River Thames, merrily call'd Blanket Fair, as it was frozen in the memorable year 1683-4, describing the booths, footpaths, coaches, sledges, bull-baiting, and other remarks upon that famous river.' Dedicated to Sir Henry Hulse, Knt. and Lord Mayor, by James Moxon, the Engraver. "A large and coarse engraving on wood, representing the sports, tents, and buildings on the ice, taken from opposite the Temple buildings, which are shown in the back-ground; beneath are 106 lines of very inferior verse, and the title :- A true description of Blanket-Fair, upon the River Thames, in the time of the great Frost, in the year of our Lord 1683.' Broadside sheet, 12 inches by 16. "Wonders on the deep, or the most exact description of the frozen river of Thames; also what was remarkably observed thereon in the last great frost, which began about the middle of December, 1683, and ended the 8th of February following: together with a brief Chronology of all the memorable strong frosts for almost 60 years, and what happened in the Northern kingdoms.' A wood-cut. "A wonderfull fair, or a fair of wonders; being a new and true illustration and description of the several things acted and done on the river of Thames in the time of the terrible frost, which began about the beginning of Dec. 1683, and continued till Feb. 4, and held on with such violence that men and beasts, coaches and sledges, went common thereon. There was also a street of booths from the Temple to Southwark, where was sold all sorts of goods: likewise bull-baiting, and an ox roasted whole, and many other things, as the map and description do plainly show.' Engraved and printed on a sheet, 1684. "A volume of coarse and worthless narratives, entitled, 'An historical account of the Late Great Frost, in which are discovered, in several Comical Relations, the various Humours, Loves, Cheats, and Intreagues of the Town, as the same were managed upon the River of Thames during that season.' London, 1684. 12mo. “Freezland-Fair, or the Icey Bear Garden.' 1682. "News from the Thames; or the frozen Thames in tears. January, 1683-4.' Half sheet; folio. "A winter wonder, or the Thames frozen over; with remarks on the resort there.' 1684. "A strange and wonderfull relation of many remarkable damages sustained, both at sea and land, by the present unparalleled Frost.' London, 1684. Half sheet, small folio, 2 pages. "Notwithstanding the admiration with which London Bridge had long been regarded, on account of its appearance as an actual street over the Thames; in 1685 its very confined limits seem to have attracted attention, and to have produced at least somewhat of reformation. There is a tradition extant, though I have not as yet been able to trace it to any printed authority, that the cross over the dome of St. Paul's having been cast in Southwark, the street of London Bridge was too narrow, and its numerous arches too low, to allow of it being that way brought into the City: and Hatton, in his 'New View of London,' vol. ii., p. 791, shows us that in his time the enlarging of the Bridge was recorded upon the North side of the Nonesuch House, in the following inscription :— 'ANNO MDCLXXXV., ET PRIMO JACOBI II. Regis, This Street was opened and enlarged from 12, to the SIR JAMES SMITH, KNIGHT, LORD MAYOR.' "Even until the time, however, when London Bridge was entirely cleared of its houses, the street over it has always been described as dark, narrow, and dangerous. The houses on each side,'-says Pennant, p. 320,'overhung, and leaned in a most terrific manner. In most places they hid the arches, and nothing appeared but the rude piers.—I well remember the street on London Bridge, narrow, darksome, and dangerous to passengers, from the multitude of carriages: frequent arches of strong timber crossing the street,from the tops of the houses to keep them together, and from falling into the river. Nothing but use could preserve the repose of the inmates, who soon grew deaf to the noise of falling waters, the clamors of watermen, or the frequent shrieks of drowning wretches. Most of the houses were tenanted by pin or needle-makers, and economical ladies were wont to drive from the St. James's end of the town to make cheap purchases.' "The New and Universal History, Description, and |