tects, Mr. Ralph Dodd, Sir Samuel Bentham, Mr. Rennie, and lastly, Mr. James Walker, who carried the design into effect. It consists of nine arches of castiron, of 78 feet span, ❖ nd 26 above high-water at springtides; the first stone was laid by Lord Dundas, as proxy for the Prince Regent, about 3 o'clock, on Thursday, May 9th, 1811; it was opened in July, 1816; and its cost amounted to upwards of 300,000%. The Strand, or WATERLOO BRIDGE, was partly projected by Mr. George Dodd, but wholly brought to perfection by Mr. Rennie: it has 9 elliptical arches of 120 feet span, and 36 feet above high-water at spring-tides; the first stone was laid on the Surrey side of the River close to Cuper's Bridge, by the Chairman, Henry Swann, Esq., and the Directors of the Company, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, of Friday, October 11th, 1811; the building amounted to about 400,0007.; and it was opened with great splendour by a procession of the Prince Regent, and the Dukes of York and Wellington, about 3 o'clock on Wednesday, June 18th, 1817, the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, when it received its name. The last was the SOUTHWARK BRIDGE, of which the first stone was laid by the late Admiral Lord Keith, at 12 o'clock on Tuesday, May 23rd, 1815, the Bill for erecting it having passed May 5th, 1811. It consists of three immense Arches of cast-iron, the centre being 240 feet in span, and those at the sides 210, and about 42 feet above the highest spring-tides: the whole work was estimated at 400,000l.; the Architect was the late Mr. Rennie; and the edifice was opened by lamp-light on Wednesday, March 24th, 1819, as the clock of St. Paul's Cathedral tolled midnight.

"I come now, Mr. Barbican, to speak of the last Fair held on the River Thames, by London Bridge, in the beginning of 1814. The Frost commenced with a thick fog, on the evening of the preceding December 27th, which lasted for several days; followed by heavier falls

of snow than any within the memory of man, and continuing for almost two days, with very short intervals. During nearly four weeks' frost, the wind blew, with little intermission, from the North and North-East ; and the cold was intense. The River was covered with vast pieces of floating ice, bearing piles of snow, moving slowly with the tide, or collected into masses wherever their progress was obstructed. A thaw, which continued from January 26th to the 29th, floated so many of these down the River, that the space between London and Blackfriars Bridges was almost impassable; and the severe Frost, which recommenced the day following, and lasted to February 5th, speedily united the whole into one immovable sheet of ice. Even on Sunday, the 30th, some persons ventured to walk over it at different parts; and on Tuesday, February 1st, the usual entries were formed by the unemployed watermen; particularly between Blackfriars Bridge and Three Cranes' Wharf, notices being written against the streets leading to them, announcing a safe foot-way over the River, by the toll on which many of them received 61. per day. The standing amusements of an English Frost Fair now commenced, and many cheerfully paid to see and partake of that upon the frozen Thames, which at any other time they would not have deigned to look upon. Beside the roughly-formed paths paved with ashes, leading from shore to shore, there was a street of tents, called the City Road,' in which gay flags, inviting signs, music, and dancing, evinced what excellent entertainment was to be found there. That ancient wonder, peculiar to the place, the roasting of a small sheep over a fire, was exhibited to many a sixpenny audience, whilst the provision itself, under the name of 'Lapland Mutton,' sold for one shilling a slice! Several Printing-Presses were also erected, to furnish memorials of the Frost, in old verse, and new prose; and as I have already given specimens of the ancient Thames' printing, let us not

pass over this last Great Frost without recording a few of its papers.

You that walk here, and do design to tell
Your children's children what this year befell,
Come buy this print, and then it will be seen,
That such a year as this hath seldom been.'

'OMNIPOTENT PRESS! Tyrant Winter has enchained the noblest torrent that flows to the main ; but Summer will return and set the captive free. So may tyranny for a time freeze the genial current of the soul; but a Free Press, like the great source of light and heat, will, ere long, dissolve the tyranny of the mightiest. Greatest of Arts! what do we not owe to thee? The knowledge which directs industry; the liberty which encourages it; the security which protects it. And of Industry how precious are the fruits! Glowing and hardy temperaments which defy the vicissitudes of seasons, and comfortable homes which make you regret not the gloom that is abroad. But for Industry, but for Printing, you might now have been content, like the Russ and Laplander, to bury yourselves under that snow, over which you now tread with mirth and glee. Printed on the River Thames, and in commemoration of a Great Fair held upon it on the 31st of January, 1814, when it was completely frozen over from shore to shore. The Frost commenced 27th of December, 1813; was accompanied by a thick fog that lasted eight days; and after the fog came a heavy fall of snow that prevented all communication with the Northern and Western parts of the country, for several days.'

"Another bill, on the same subject, ran thus:

Friends! now is your time to support the freedom of the Press ! Can the Press have greater liberty? Here you find it working in the middle of the Thames; and if you encourage us by buying our impressions, we will keep it going in the true spirit of liberty during the Frost.'

"One of the last papers printed on the River was as follows:

'To Madame Tabitha Thaw,

Dear Dissolving Dame,

'FATHER FROST анd SISTER SNOW have Bonyed my borders, formed an idol of ice upon my bosom, and all the LADS of LONDON come to make merry; now, as you love mischief, treat the multitude with a few CRACKS by a sudden visit, and obtain the prayers of the poor upon both banks. Given at my own Press, the 5th

Feb. 1814.

THOMAS THAMES.*

"During the obstruction of this Frost, the tide did not appear to rise above half its usual height; and about the Bridge the ice lay in enormous blocks, where their occasional splitting very much endangered the edifice, and caused several accidents; one of which forms the subject of a highly spirited etching in Mr. J. T. Smith's 'Antiquities of London,' p. 24, representing AN ARCH OF LONDON BRIDGE,

6

as it appeared during the Great Frost; drawn February 5th, 1814.' This is a North-East view of Prince's Lock, or the 6th from the City-end; and it is particularly curious for showing at once the modern casing of the present Bridge, and the ancient edifice beneath it. In the evening of Saturday, the very day when this view was taken, Frost Fair was visited by rain and a sudden thaw, when the ice cracked and floated in several places.