was originally a common burial-ground for those who died during the Great Plague in 1665. The land within the walls is less than four acres, and yet within the last 150 years probably 150,000 bodies have been laid here. John Bunyan, George Fox, the founder of Quakerism, Daniel Defoe, and Dr. Isaac Watts, were interred at Bunhill Fields. Here commences the City Road. In Tabernacle Row (E.) is the TABERNACLE, a meeting house of the Methodists. Not far off in Old Street is ST. LUKE'S HOSPITAL for lunatics. THREADNEEDLE STREET is thought to derive its name from the three needles which the Needlemakers' Company bore on their arms. It formerly commenced at the spot where the Mansion House stands, and the Bank of England is supposed to stand in it, whence that establishment has been facetiously termed "the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street." Passing the ROYAL EXCHANGE, and the point where Old Broad Street diverges, we reach the Hall of Commerce (N.), built in 1843 for Moxhay the biscuit-maker, who expended upon it and the site upwards of £60,000. It was intended to be used as a mercantile club house, but this plan did not succeed, and it now serves for the offices of two joint-stock banks. On the façade is a frieze 73 feet long, with bas reliefs. In the vestibule is a statue of Whittington. The larger of its halls has a length of 130 feet, and a width of 44 feet. On the south side of the street is Merchant Tailors' Hall, and a little further on (N.) is the once famous South Sea House, the history of which belongs to the romance of commerce.* The year of 1720 is marked by the blowing and bursting of the great bubble, when £100 stock was sold at £1200, and within three months it would hardly fetch £86. One of the largest speculators and severest sufferers was the Duke of Chandos (the Timon of Pope) who lost £300,000. "Yet since just heaven the Duke's ambition mocks, And all he got by fraud is lost by stocks, Since he no more can build and plant and revel." Thus wrote Swift, to whom the wild speculation of that time was * "Reader, in thy passage from the Bank-where thou hast been receiving thy half-yearly dividends-to the Flower Pot, to secure a place for Dalston or Shacklewell, or some other thy suburban retreat northerly-didst thou never observe a melancholy-looking, handsome brick and stone edifice to the left, where Threadneedle Street abuts upon Bishopsgate? I daresay thou hast often admired its magnificent portals ever gaping wide and disclosing to view a grave court with cloisters and pillars."-The South Sea House, by Elia. a fertile source of sarcastic remark. Threadneedle Street enters Bishopsgate Street Within, opposite the Wesleyan Centenary Hall. CORNHILL extends eastward from Mansion House Street to the corner of Bishopsgate Street, and was named, according to old Stow, of " a corn-market time of mind there holden." In 1748 occurred a great fire that destroyed upwards of ninety houses, including that in which Gray the poet was born, and which belonged to him at the time. The house rebuilt on the site is No. 41. The street contains several well-stored shops of jewellers and silversmiths. On the south side, opposite the Royal Exchange, is 'Change Alley, the scene of the South Sea Stock gambling. "There is a gulf where thousands fell, So wrote Swift in his ballad, "The South Sea Project." thus Gay, in his " Panegyrical Epistle to Mr. Thomas Snow" "Why did 'Change Alley waste thy precious hours And In Finch Lane (N.) are Ned's and Joe's chophouses. St. Michael's Church and St. Peter's are on the south side of the street; the latter, one of Wren's churches, has a tower and spire 140 feet high, with a great key, the emblem of St. Peter, at the top. Near the east end of Cornhill stood the Standard, a structure connected with a conduit supplying water. From it distances were measured for some time. From this end of Cornhill, Bishopgate Street strikes northward, Gracechurch Street southward to London Bridge, and Leadenhall Street eastward. Gracechurch Street is the starting place of omnibuses crossing London Bridge. LEADENHALL STREET was so named from an ancient manorhouse of Leadenhall. In the angle between it and Gracechurch Street is Leadenhall Market, where much butchers' meat and poultry are sold. In this street (S.) stands the old East India House, an edifice erected in 1800. It is no longer occupied by the Government of India, having been lately sold to persons who intend to pull it down, and the business relating to Indian affairs is now transacted in a portion of the Westminster Hotel. The museum has been removed to Fife House, Whitehall (see India Museum). Hoole, the translator of Tasso; Peacock, the author of "Headlong Hall," "Crotchett Castle," and other stories; Charles Lamb, the essayist; James Mill, the historian of India; and John Mill, his son, the author of valuable works on logic and political economy, held clerkships at the India House. North, are the churches of St. Andrew Undershaft, and St. Catherine Cree, rebuilt in 1629, and consecrated by Laud, whose proceedings on the occasion savoured so much of superstition that they were made a formal charge against him, and helped to bring about his fate. Holbein is said to have been buried in the old building. A sermon is preached here annually on the 16th October, in pursuance of the will of Sir John Gager, Lord Mayor in 1646, to commemorate his escape from a lion which he encountered in his travels in Asia Minor. Leadenhall Street terminates at Aldgate, where formerly stood one of the city gates. In the triangle, formed by Bishopgate Street, Leadenhall Street, and Houndsditch, the Jews are very nume rous. BISHOPSGATE STREET commences at the junction of Cornhill, Gracechurch Street, and Leadenhall Street. Its southern portion is known as Bishopsgate Street Within (the walls), and in this part (W.) is the London Tavern, where great public dinners take place. Opposite the end of Threadneedle Street (where the South Sea House is seen over against the church of St. Martin Outwich) is the Wesleyan Centenary Hall (E.) A little beyond (E) is Crosly Hall, highly interesting as the only relic in London of ancient domestic architecture on a large scale; Crosly Place, as it was anciently called, was originally built in 1466 by Sir John Crosly, alderman. It came afterwards into the possession of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III. Readers of Shakspere will remember that one of the scenes of the drama, bearing that king's name, is laid here, but it is believed that the poet had no authority for supposing that the property belonged to Richard at the date in question. After passing through several hands, including Sir Thomas More, it came into the possession (1564) of Sir John Spencer, ancestor of the Marquis of Northampton, who greatly improved it. Readers of our poets may like to know that when in the hands of Lord Compton, Sir John's son-in-law, the Countess of Pembroke (the lady to whom Sir Philip Sidney, her brother, dedicated his Arcadia, and Spenser addressed one of his sonnets) lived here several years, and when she died, Ben Jonson wrote her epitaph. About the middle of the seventeenth century it was so injured by fire that it was never afterwards used as a dwellinghouse. The Presbyterians, however, met here for religious worship for upwards of 100 years. Some 30 years ago, what remained of the old mansion attracted public attention, and subscriptions were raised for the purpose of restoring it. It was opened with a musical performance in 1838. The repairs have been very extensive, and much of the edifice has been rebuilt. What we now have are the Hall, the Council Chamber, and the Throne Room above, with vaults of early brickwork below. The hall is 54 feet long, 271⁄2 broad, and 40 feet high. It is lighted by lofty windows and a beautiful oriel; there is a minstrels' gallery, and the roof is a very fine specimen of timber work. The fire-place is considered a very curious feature in a hall of this date. The roof of the Throne Room is oak-ribbed rounded. This building may be recognised on the east side of Bishopsgate Street, by the front which is new, but composed in the style of the timber houses of the period. The door is in the entrance to Crosly Square, which is formed by houses built on the ruins of the old place. The hall is let for musical performances, lectures, etc. To see it, apply to the porter. Behind Crosly Hall is St. Helen's Church. Before arriving at Wormwood Street, on the east, is the Bull Inn, an ancient hostelry with a galleried yard, in which, before the building of theatres, the actors placed their stage. This was the inn of Hobson the carrier. In one of Milton's humorous pieces of verse upon him, we are told that he died because he had nothing to do, being forbid to make his usual journeys "betwixt Cambridge and the Bull" by reason of the plague. Further north is St. Botolph's Church (W.), which yields the largest income of any of the city churches, the incumbent deriving £2290 a year from it. It escaped the great fire, but was rebuilt 1725-9. Hereabout stood the city gate, which gave its name to the street; and now commences Bishopsgate Street Without, a thoroughfare of irregular width, which leads through Shoreditch to the Eastern Counties' Railway Station. LOMBARD STREET abounds in banks and insurance offices. It derives its name from the Lombards, who settled here as goldsmiths at a very early period. Their device, the three gold pills of the Medici family, or, as some think, the three pieces of gold, the emblem of the benevolent St. Nicholas, is now in possession of the pawnbrokers. The expression, a china orange to all Lombard street, indicates the wealth of the place in popular estimation. The church of St. Mary Woolnoth stands at the west end, on the site, it is said, of a pagan temple. It was rebuilt in 1716 by Hawksmoor. The Rev. John Newton, Cowper's friend, was rector here for twenty-eight years. Pope, "the little Queen Arne's man," was born in this street, but in what house is not known. Thomas Guy, the founder of Guy's Hospital, kept a bookseller's shop in Lombard Street. Sir Thomas Gresham's shop was on the site of No. 68, where Martin, Stone, and Co. carry on business. Here are two churches on the north side : St. Edmund the King and Martyr, a church rebuilt by Wren, with a steeple 90 feet high; over the altar are two paintings by William Etty, representing Moses and Aaron and All-Hallows, also rebuilt by Wren after the Great Fire. Lombard Street terminates at Gracechurch Street, over against the commencement of Fenchurch Street. FENCHURCH STREET is a long thoroughfare, which meets the end of Leadenhall Street at Aldgate. St. Benet's Church, at the east end, has a spire 149 feet high. In Rood Lane (S.) is St. Margaret Pattens, rebuilt by Wren in 1687, containing an altar-piece attributed to Carlo Maratti, and around it are flowers well carved in wood. In this church is a large monument to Sir P. Delme, Lord Mayor in 1723, by Rysbrack. In Mincing Lane (S.) are the new Clothworkers' Hall and the Commercial Salerooms, where an enormous amount of property is disposed of in the course of the year, the articles principally dealt in being tea, coffee, sugar, tobacco, indigo, spices, and drugs. Ironmongers' Hall (N.) is opposite the end of Mark Lane (S.), which abounds in wine merchants; and here is the Corn Exchange, where more extensive transactions in grain take place than anywhere else in the world. The chief day is Monday, from ten to three, but Wednesday and Friday are also business days. It is notorious that much hazardous speculation takes place amongst the frequenters of this exchange. The corn merchants have a newspaper, the Mark Lane Express, devoted to their interests. A few steps from the Corn Exchange, in Hart Street, Crutched Friars, is St. Olave's Church, one of the few city churches that escaped the Great Fire. Its clustered columns and pointed arches are highly interesting. Pepys the diarist was buried here, and |