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citizen and chronicler is represented sitting with a book on a table before him, and a pen in his hand. John Stow was born in the parish of St. Michael's, Cornhill, about the year 1525. He was by trade a tailor, and belonged to the Merchant Tailors' Company. He died in the parish of St. Andrew's Undershaft, April 5th, 1605, old, poor, and neglected.

St. Catherine Coleman is a church in Aldgate ward, on the south side of Fenchurch street, and nearly concealed by houses. The church escaped the Great Fire, and was rebuilt as we now see it in 1734. It is a rectory in the gift of the Bishop of London.

To complete our perambulations of this mighty metropolis it will now be necessary, in order that we may follow the route that we have marked out for ourselves, to conduct our readers by the most direct way from our present position in Fenchurch street, through Gracechurch street, Fish street hill, Upper Thames street, and Blackfriars' bridge to the

BLACKFRIARS' ROAD,

which commences at the Surrey end of Blackfriars' bridge, and extends to the Obelisk by the Surrey Theatre. This road and neighbourhood derived its name from a church precinct and sanctuary with four gates, so called from an order of Black, Preaching, or Dominican Friars, founded by Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, A.D. 1221. Their first London settlement was in Holborn, near Lincoln's Inn, where they remained for a period of fifty-five years, removing in 1276, to the particular locality which still bears their name, when Gregory Roksley, mayor, set apart a piece of ground in the ward of Castle Baynard for their use: Robert Kirwalby, Archbishop of Canterbury, contributed largely to the building of their church, and Edward I. and Queen Eleanor to the better endowment of their order. There is little that is interesting in the history of the monastery till near the period of its dissolution. A parliament was assembled here in the reign of Henry VI. Here Charles V. of Spain was lodged when on a visit to Henry VIII. Here Henry called a parliament, known in history as the Black Parliament, because it began among the Black Friars in the City, and terminated among the Black Monks in Westminster. Here the subject of Henry's divorce from Katherine of Arragon was tried before Cardinal Campeggio; and here began the parliament in which Wolsey was condemned. The house and precincts were surrendered to the King on the 12th of November, 1538; and Edward VI. in the first year of his reign sold the hall and the site of the prior's lodgings to Sir Francis Bryan, and in the third year of his reign granted to Sir Thomas Cawarden (Master of the Revels) the whole house, site or circuit, compass and precinct, of the late Friar Preachers, within the City of London;❞ the yearly value being reckoned at £19. The privileges of sanctuary still remained; nor was it easy to dispossess the inhabitants of their little independence.

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CHRIST CHURCH,

on the right hand side of the Blackfriars' road, belongs to the parish situated between St. Saviour's, Southwark, on one side and Lambeth on the other. Gravel lane divides it from St. Saviour's. John Marshall, of the borough of Southwark, gentleman, left by will made Aug. 21st, 1672, and proved April 15th, 1631, the sum of £700 for the purpose of erecting a new church and churchyard in such places as his feoffees or trustees should think fit. Some delay took place in carrying out the intentions of the trustees, and a further and still longer delay was occasioned by the Civil War. But the bequest was not altogether overlooked; in the year 1670, a part of the manor of Paris-garden was chosen for that purpose, an Act of Parliament obtained, and the Church of the Parish of Christ Church, Surrey, consecrated Sunday, Dec. 17th, 1671, by John Dolben, Bishop of Rochester, "com

missioned thereunto by the Lord Bishop of Winchester, in whose diocese it lies." The Bishop of Winchester referred to, was Izaak Walton's good Bishop Morley. The present church was built about 1737.

SURREY CHAPEL,

at the corner of Little Charlotte street, Blackfriars' road, formerly Rowland Hill's Chapel, and originally the "Surrey Chapel," was built in 1784. In the memoirs of the late Charles Mathews, the actor, occurs the following passage: "I remember Rowland Hill from my infancy. He was an odd, flighty, absent person. So inattentive was he to nicety in dress, that I have seen him enter my father's house (in the Strand) with one red slipper and one shoe, the knees of his breeches untied, and the strings dangling down his legs. In this state he had walked from Blackfriars' road, unconscious of his eccentric appearance.

The Dog's Head in the Porridge Pot is mentioned as an old London sign in a curious old tract printed by Wynkyn de Worde, called Cocke Lorelles Bote. A sign of this description is still to be seen at the corner of Little Charlotte street.

THE MAGDALEN HOSPITAL,

Blackfriars Road, was established for the reformation and relief of penitent outcasts from society. It was instituted through the benevolence of the Rev. Mr. Dingley, Sir John Fielding, Mr. Saunders Welch, and Jonas Hanway, in 1758, since which time more than two-thirds of the persons admitted to its benefits have been reconciled to their friends, or placed in respectable situations of life. The first house of the society was in Prescot street, Goodman's Fields. Upwards of five thousand unfortunate females, most of whom were under twenty years of age, have been restored to society and the blessings of domestic peace, through the instrumentality of this laudable foundation. Persons desirous of visiting this building are admitted on application to the Treasurer, or to the Committee, who meet every Thursday. Service is performed in the Chapel every Sunday morning at a quarter after eleven, and in the evening at a quarter after six. A collection is made previous to admission, the produce of which goes towards the maintenance of the institution.

The next object of interest in our course is

THE SURREY THEATRE,

situated just beyond the Magdalen, and close to the Obelisk, Blackfriars' road. It was originally called the Royal Circus, and was opened November 7th, 1782, by Messrs. Hughes and Dibden, in opposition to the elder Astley, but was long an unsuccessful speculation. The interior was rebuilt in 1799, and the whole theatre burnt August 12th, 1805. The new theatre (the present) was opened Easter Monday, 1806. Elliston leased it for a time; and subsequently, the late Mr. Davidge acquired a handsome fortune by his management. John Palmer, the actor, (d. 1798), played here while a prisoner within the rules of the King's Bench. The large sums he received, and the way in which he squandered his money, is said to have suggested the clause in the then Debtor's Act, which made all public houses and places of amusement out of the Rules. The house is large and well conducted under Messrs. Shepherd and Creswick, and the performances consist of dramas of domestic interest, farces, burlettas, &c. The house is generally well attended.

We shall now diverge a little from our track to the left, and in the Borough-road we shall observe

THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN SCHOOLS.

These schools are the Normal Schools of the British and Foreign School Society established in 1818 under Royal patronage. By the term Normal School is meant to infer that it is for the instruction and training of teachers, male and female, in the art of communicating to children according to the most approved methods, those branches of instruction which they may be competent to teach. In London and its vicinity there are nearly two hundred of these schools generally conducted by "certificated" teachers who have passed such a severe ordeal of examination at head quarters previously, that their ancestors little dreamt of what the present age would require from a National school teacher before he or she could hope to obtain even a glimpse of a "certificate" of the lowest grade. Besides these Schools and the National Society Schools, there are Sunday Schools upwards of 500 in number, for the education of children chiefly in matters of religion and morality. There are also schools endowed for youths coming from particular parts of the United Kingdom, as the Hibernian School, the Caledonian, the Welsh School, or the Yorkshire Schools in the immediate vicinity, which partake of the nature of charities, being wholly supported by voluntary contributions. Within the last few years, Ragged Schools, for the free admission and education of the youth of the lowest class of society, have been established in various parts of the town, and with signal success.

THE QUEEN'S PRISON

is at the extremity of the Borough-road, Southwark. It was constituted pursuant to 5 & 6 William IV. c. 22, and there described as "The prison of the Marshalsea of the King's Bench. This prison was formerly called the "King's" or "Queen's Bench," as attached specially to the high court of that name, and is appropriated for debtors and persons sentenced for libels and misdemeanours, by the Court of Queen's Bench. It is spacious and airy, and altogether the most desirable place of the kind in the metropolis. By the Act passed in William IVth's reign, the Queen's Bench, the Fleet, and Marshalsea Prisons were consolidated, and called the King's Prison. It was to this prison that Henry Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V., was committed by Judge Gascoigne, for striking or insulting him on the bench. Here Baxter was confined for his paraphrase on the New Testament. Within the Rules of this prison died Kit Smart, the poet; and here William Combe wrote Dr. Syntax's adventures.

THE INSTITUTION FOR THE INDIGENT BLIND,

St. George's Circus, Obelisk, was established in 1709. Here the most humane attention is paid to a number of our afflicted fellow-creatures, from twelve years of age and upwards. They are taught to make baskets, cradles, clothes, boots, shoes, mats, and various other articles, which are sold at the school. Strangers are admitted to examine the nature of the institution. There are, usually, about seventy inmates of both sexes. The original building has been replaced by one upon a larger scale : the design of the new structure is Gothic, executed chiefly in white brick.

THE PHILANTHROPIC SOCIETY,

London road, was instituted 1788, for the prevention of crime, by the admission of the offspring of convicts, and for the reformation of criminal male children; it consists of three distinct establishmentsan extensive manufactory, a spacious female school, and a house of reform, separated from each other by walls of considerable height. The sons of convicts, not having themselves been criminal, are received at once into the manufactory, which is very extensive, containing besides accommodation for

120 boys, workshops for carrying on trades; these are conducted by master workmen in the service of the society. The profits of the trades are carried to the account of the society, and a portion given as rewards for the boys' earnings. The girls are brought up for domestic servants, in addition to making their own clothing, shirts for the boys, &c. &c. Strangers are admitted to visit the manufactory and schools.

BETHLEHEM HOSPITAL

in St. George's-in-the-Fields is for the detention and cure of insane persons. It was originally founded in the time of Henry VIII, in Bishopsgate Without, upon the ruins of an ancient canonry. It was afterwards removed to Moorfields, 1675. The present edifice, from designs of James Lewis was erected in 1812-14, with the exception of the cupola, since added by Sydney Smith. The building presents a noble exterior, nearly 700 feet in length, consisting of a centre and two wings. A large dome rises from the middle of the building, four stories in height, and chiefly constructed with bricks. In the hall are the celebrated statues by C. G. Cibber, representing raving and melancholy Madness, which formerly surmounted the piers of the gateway of the Hospital in Moorfields. This Building cost upwards of £100,000, and from its judicious internal arrangement, is capable of accommodating with ease 500 patients, under the dreadful affliction of Lunacy. It occupies, together with the grounds for the exercise of the patients, a surface of fourteen acres. The annual income of the foundation is £18,000. The way in which the comforts of the patients is studied by every one connected with the Hospital cannot be too highly commended. The women have pianos, and the men have billiards and bagatelle-tables, besides a nice library and reading room. There are, indeed, few things to remind you that you are in a mad-house beyond the bone knives in use, and a few cells lined and floored with cork and india rubber, and against which the insanest patient may knock his head without the possibility of hurting it. Bedlam, till the beginning of the present century, was an exhibition open to the public; a common promenade, like the middle aisle of old St. Paul's, or the gravel walks of Gray's Inn. The arrangements were much improved of late years, and are now excellent. Visitors are admitted on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, by an order from a Governor. Several celebrated persons have been confined here amongst whom may be mentioned Hannah Snell, (d. 1792). She was an out-pensioner of Chelsea Hospital, on account of the wounds she received at the siege of Pondicherry. Peg Nicholson, for attempting to stab George III. She died here in 1828, after a confinement of 42 years. Hadfield, for attempting to shoot the same King in Drury Lane Theatre-Oxford, for firing at the Queen in St. James's Park-M'Naghten, for shooting Mr. Edward Drummond at Charing Cross. He mistook Mr. Drummond, the private Secretary of the late Sir Robert Peel, for Sir Robert Peel himself. The next public institution we shall notice is THE FEMALE ORPHAN ASYLUM,

Westminster Bridge Road, instituted for the reception of destitute female orphans by Sir John Fielding in the year 1758. No girl is admitted under the age of eight or above the age of ten years, nor are diseased, deformed, or infirm children, admitted. The children receive an excellent education until the age of fourteen, they are then placed in the duties of household work, and after the age of fifteen, are apprenticed to private families as domestics. The asylum is open to visitors on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, between the hours of eleven and two o'clock, on other days by special order. This useful charity is supported by voluntary subscriptions, donations, &c. Divine service is performed in the chapel every Sunday, a collection made previously at the doors goes towards the funds of the Institution.

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By proceeding along a continuation of the Lambeth Road towards the River, we shall next arrive at

LAMBETH PALACE,

in many respects the most interesting antiquarian pile in the suburbs. Its lofty gateway towers are fine specimens of early brickwork, as is also the prison house of the Lollards. This has been for more than six centuries the palace of the Archbishops of Canterbury; and, as each primate has kept the establishment in repair, or added to its appurtenances, it presents a rare aspect of stately grandeur; the well timbered grounds, too, aid its picturesqueness as seen from the river. The Lollards' Tower, at the western extremity of the chapel, contains a small room, wainscotted with oak, on which are inscribed several names and portions of sentences in ancient characters, and the walls are furnished with large rings, to which the Lollards and other unfortunate persons, confined for heretical opinions. are supposed to have been affixed. The Park and Gardens, which contain nearly 30 acres, are laid out with great taste, and form a very beautiful promenade.

Within the patriarchal shade of Lambeth Palace is the old Parish Church of Lambeth, with a tower of the time of Edward III. lately restored, and the body of the Church rebuilt in 1852.

We must next make an excursion by steam boat up the river, from the Lambeth stairs, in order that we may view and note a few of the localities on the banks of the Thames.

THE PENITENTIARY,

at Millbank, was built some thirty years since, at a cost of half a million, for the industrial reform of prisoners; the prison is octagonal in form, and encloses about eighteen acres. To the right is a healthier indication-a vast extent of buildings, which have sprung up almost within the present century, upon a site hitherto a waste. Such is in part the city of palace-houses, to which has been given the nom de circonstance of Belgravia.

VAUXHALL GARDENS,

higher up, merit passing notice, though rather for their former celebrity than their present fortune: their fame is upwards of a century and a half old: but all recollections of Sir Samuel Moreland, by whom the Gardens were originally planted, of Addison and Steele's Vauxhall, and Hogarth and Hayman's pictures have been swept away by the insatiate demands for novelty.

VAUXHALL BRIDGE,

a very elegant structure, thrown over the Thames, from Pimlico to a little eastward of the South Western Railway Station, at an expense of about £300,000, to be defrayed by the tolls levied for crossing it, was opened in 1816. It consists of nine cast-iron arches, each 78 feet in span, with piers faced with Kentish ragstone bedded in Roman cement as a foundation, and it is said to be the lightest structure of the kind in Europe. It contributes in particular to the convenience of the inhabitants of Vauxhall, Lambeth, and their vicinity, affording them an easy communication with the Houses of Parliament, Courts of Law, Pimlico, Chelsea, &c.

CHELSEA HOSPITAL

on the right, next claims our notice. This noble monument of national munificence and gratitude was erected for the accommodation or out-door relief of sick and superannuated soldiers. It was founded by Charles II. (at the instigation, it is said of Nell Gwynne), and completed under James II.

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