down to make room for the National Gallery. This building was erected between the years 1834 and 1837, from the design of Mr. Charles Wilkins. The front is about 500 feet in length. In the centre is a portico, with eight columns of the Corinthian order, the ascent to which is formed by a flight of steps at each side, the whole surmounted by an ornamented, if not an ornamental, dome. Critics with reason object to this edifice that it is too low in comparison with the objects by which it is surrounded; the portico of St. Martin's church being considerably higher, and even the houses in Suffolk Place at the other end, against which it is affixed, being several yards more lofty. It is a mean building, when the great national purpose for which it was erected is considered. A few thousands of pounds in addition would have rendered this edifice worthy of the British nation, and have saved us many "odious comparisons" with our more liberal, and perhaps more enlightened neighbours.

It is generally believed that the idea of erecting a monument in the metropolis worthy of Nelson originated with our late King William IV. Certain it is that he favoured the design of opening to the people the square at Charing Cross, of naming it Trafalgar,' ," and of placing in its centre some monument to Nelson, such as might not disgrace the patronage of a sovereign, or the immortal glories of the hero. Such, in the main, was the origin of the "Nelson Testimonial," in Trafalgar Square. For this noble object a subscription was opened, and a committee organized, the Duke of Buccleuch lending his efficient aid as chairman. Unfortunately, the sovereign did not live to witness the progress of his favourite project.

On a considerable sum being raised, the committee advertised for designs for a monument of architecture and sculpture; the rewards of 250l., 150l., and 100l. respectively, being promised to the author of the design which the committee should deem first, second, and third in order of merit; and the highest premium was awarded to Mr. William Railton. The designs were then submitted to the inspection of the public, with certain additions, alterations, and amendments; and the committee, on June 22, confirmed their former choice, and finally decided upon the design of Mr. Railton.

This monument, on the whole, may be pronounced a very handsome ornament to the almost unparalleled site on which it is placed, and is highly creditable to the abilities of the architect. If we say there is little originality in its conception, that will, perhaps, hardly be considered as detracting from the merits of the

author; for English architects have not yet learned to create, and English taste is satisfied with imitations of the antique. Objections have been taken to the cocked-hat on the head of the statue. Undoubtedly, the effect is not poetical, and it is true, Nelson is most easily recognised in our engravings of the hero, when, as most frequently we see him, bare-headed. But when we remember the height at which the statue is placed; when, after straining our eyes to examine it, we discover that the features are not to be discerned, it will be allowed that the cocked-hat was necessary; for without it Nelson could not well have been identified, or be made to appear any body else than a private gentleman who had chanced to lose his right arm.

We now pass across Trafalgar Square to Spring Gardens, which, until the time of Charles II., were what their name implies. During the Republic, and after the Restoration, they were more thickly built upon, and Prince Rupert took a house there, where he died in 1682, in the sixty-third year of his age. Here also died Mrs. Centlivre, the celebrated dramatic authoress, especially remembered for her bustling and entertaining comedies, the "Bold Stroke for a Wife," the "Wonder," and the " Busybody." Centlivre, by whose name she is alone remembered, was her third husband, and yeoman of the mouth-a cook, or a cook's assistant, in the service of Queen Anne, who fell in love with her when she was acting in male attire at Windsor. Her name then was Carroll. Her fine legs and pretty face captivated the yeoman's eyes, and her wit and goodnature captivated his heart. Mrs. Centlivre figures in the "Dunciad." Pope, in the notes to the passage, says, "She writ many plays, and a song before she was seven years old; she also wrote a ballad against Mr. Pope's 'Homer' before he began it." The last part of the sentence explains why she was reckoned among the dunces. She was buried in St. Paul's, Covent Garden.

We have now arrived at Charing Cross, and ended the first part of our peregrinations.

G

CHAPTER VII.

"3

Charing Cross-Demolition of the Cross-"The Downfall of Charing Cross' -Equestrian statue of Charles I., Sutton Nicholls' print of-Epigrams on the statue of George I. on Bloomsbury Church-Pillory in Charing Cross -Titus Oates exhibited there-Cruel punishment of Japhet Crook thereExecution of Hugh Peters, Harrison, and other regicides there-Number of Taverns here, the resort of wits and literati in the seventeenth century -Anecdotes connected with Sir George Etherege-The Rummer Tavern, anecdote of Matthew Prior and the Earl of Dorset-Robinson's Coffee House; anecdote of Richard Savage; his trial-Anecdote of Ben Jonson -Thomson, the poet-Sir Nicholas Bacon-King Street, the residence of Oliver Cromwell-Cromwell's guards-Hogarth's print of "Night' Wallingford House (site, now the Admiralty), anecdotes connected withResidence of General Fleetwood, and Villiers, Duke of BuckinghamAnecdote of the Duke-Scotland Yard-Palace formerly there for the Scottish Kings-Attempted assasination of Lord Herbert of CherburyVanbrugh's House-Neighbourhood teems with "memories" of the Tudors and the Stuarts-Mansion of Hubert de Burgh, then York Place, the Palace of Cardinal Wolsey, afterwards Whitehall-The great man who "flitted about this palace," temp. Henry VIII.-Pageants there in the time of Elizabeth, and Revels in those of King James I.-Execution of King Charles I.-Cromwell lived and died here-Events here during Cromwell's reign-The residence of Richard Cromwell-The "Merry Court" of Charles II. here-His death-The residence of James II.-Nearly destroyed by Fire-Converted into a chapel.

FROM CHARING CROSS TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY,

WESTMINSTER HALL, AND THE HOUSES
OF PARLIAMENT.

HORNE TOOKE, in his "Diversions of Purley," derives the word Charing from the Saxon word charan, to turn; and the situation of the original village, on the bend or turning of the Thames, gives probability to this etymology. In the reign of Edward I., Charing was a rural hamlet on the highway between London and Westminster, consisting of no more than a dozen houses, or hovels. It took the additional name of Cross from the wooden cross set up by that monarch, as a testimony of his conjugal affection, strong beyond the grave, for his beloved Eleanor. Wherever her corpse rested, on its transit from Grantham, in Lincolnshire, to Westminster Abbey, the place of her sepulture, the affectionate king erected a cross in commemoration of her. A stone cross, from the design of Cavalini, afterwards replaced the original wooden one; and it lasted until the fanati ism, which broke forth in England in the seventeenth century,

swept it away with many other remarkable works of art which reminded the multitude of that faith which they abhorred. It was demolished in 1647, by an order of the House of Commons, which had been issued three years previously, but for some reason or other not carried into effect immediately, as was the case with the cross at Cheapside.

The

Lilly, the astrologer, says, in his "Observations on the Life and Character of Charles I.," that the workmen were employed for three months (June, July, and August, 1647), in pulling it down, and that some of the stones were used to form the pavement before Whitehall. The admirers of relics bought some of them, and had them made into knife-handles; and Lilly saw some of them which were polished, and looked like marble. site remained vacant for thirty-one years, when the equestrian statue that now adorns it was placed there by order of Charles II., and a pedestal erected expressly for it by Grinlyn Gibbons. The statue was cast in 1633, by Le Sueur, for the Earl of Arundel, but was ordered by the House of Commons, after the execution of the king, to be sold and broken to pieces. It was purchased by John River, or Rivet, a brazier, who foreseeing, perhaps, that the monarchy might, some day or other, grow into good odour again with the people, buried the statue in his garden somewhere in Holborn.

The following inscription is copied from a large sheet print of the statue, beautifully engraved, in the manner and time of Faithorne, but without name or date; extremely rare.

"This portraiture was drawne from the magnificent figure cast in brasse, by that most famous artist, Monsieur Le Sueur, An. Donj. 1633, exceeding the proportion of the life, being almost 10 foot high, and with great hazzard, charge, and care, preserved under ground by John Rivet, brasier, living at Holborn Conduit at ye Diall."

The brazier, it appears, made a very good thing of his bargain, for he bought a large quantity of old brass, which he made into knife and fork-handles, and publicly advertised as being manufactured of the king's statue. They sold wonderfully, both parties being alike eager to procure them; the roundheads to triumph over royalty the cavaliers to preserve a memento of their sovereign. It does not appear what sum the brazier received for the statue at the Restoration, or even whether he was alive. The Parliament of 1678 voted the sum of £70,000 for solemnizing the funeral, and for erecting a monument to the memory of Charles I., and out of this sum a portion went to

wards the repurchase of this statue and the erection of tho pedestal by Grinlyn Gibbons.

There is an idle story abroad, and very generally believed, that the horse is without a girth. This assertion appears to have been first made in a periodical publication called the "Medley," for Aug. 1719, quoted by Malcolm, in his "Account of London," affirmed by him to be the fact, and since copied by numerous writers. Any person who will take the trouble to look at the statue, will see that there is a girth passing over a very strong rein on the right of the animal.

Of Charing Cross, and its surrounding buildings, perhaps the rare print by Sutton Nicholls is the earliest; it is a sheet print, and of a size with those published in Strype's Stow. It appears by this view, that there were about forty small square stone posts then, surrounding the pedestal on which the statue is placed, and that that spot then was a standing place for hackney-chairs; it also shows that every house had a long stepping-stone at a small distance from its front, for the accommodation of those who used carriages. Perhaps no place is better known all over Britain than Charing Cross.

When Bloomsbury Church was finished, the figure of King George I. surmounting the steeple excited much criticism, and gave rise to the following lines, printed in a sixpenny book for I children about 1756:

"No longer stand staring,

My friend, at Cross Charing,
Amidst such a number of people;

For a man on a horse

Is a matter of course,

But look, here is a king on a steeple!"

Charing Cross was for many centuries a place of punishment, and its pillory was among the most famous of the many that formerly stood in London. Among many notorious persons who underwent that degradation in this place were Titus Oates, for his well-known perjuries; and Parsons, the chief concocter of that memorable imposition, known by the name of the Cock Lane Ghost. The following extract from "The Daily Advertiser," for the 11th of June, 1731, will show the sort of punishment that was sometimes inflicted upon unhappy individuals in the pillory:

66

Yesterday Japhet Crook, alias Sir Peter Stranger, stood on the pillory for the space of one hour; after which he was seated in an elbow-chair, and the common hangman cut both his ears off