proper inclosure of strong piles, and the caisson being brought over to the place where it was to be sunk, on the 29th of January, 1738-9, the first stone of the western pier was laid by the earl of Pembroke; the erecting of the structure was compleated in eleven years and nine months; a very short period, considering the magnitude of the undertaking, the prodigious quantity of stone made use of, hewn out of the quarry, and brought by sea; the interruptions of winter, the damage frequently done by the ice to the piling and scaffolding, and the unavoidable interruption occasioned twice a day by the tide, which, for two years together, reduced the time of labour to only five hours a day.

The charge of building, and for procuring the several conveniencies requisite, amounted to the sum of 389,500l. whereof 197,500l. was raised by three successive lotteries, and the remaining 192,000l. granted by parliament.

The structure is contrived in such just proportion that, if a person whispers against the wall of the alcoves on one side the way, the party on the opposite may plainly hear, and converse, without being prevented by the interruption of the street, or the noise of carriages, &c.

Before this bridge was built, the buildings in this part of Westminster were very incommodious, and a nuisance. Even in the reign of Henry VIII. that monarch granted a charter of privilege to the dean and canons of St Stephen's chapel to pull down all the "antient and very ruinous te nements," and to build them again; these buildings were "situate in Le Wolstaple, between the clock towards the east, and Le Wey House toward the west, and the wall of our palace in length toward the south, and Le Wulbrige of our staple toward the north." At this time, what is now called St. James's Park, was a swamp, till Henry caused it to be drained, and converted into walks. ;

The WOOL STAPLE was held in NEW PALACE YARD. This staple had been held for many ages in Flanders, to the great detriment of the English merchants; in the year 1353, the patriotic Edward III. caused the wool trade to be con

fined to his own dominions, at Westminster, and other con siderable towns. By this wise measure he brought wealth into the country, and considerably increased the royal revenue; for parliament granted him a certain sum on every sack exported. Henry VI. had no less than six wool houses in this place, which he granted to the dean and canons of St. Stephen's. The concourse of people to this wool market occasioned such an influx of inhabitants, that the royal village of Westminster increased to a town.

The CLOCK HOUSE, or TOWER, stood opposite Westminster Hall gate, and is said to have been erected on the following occasion: A certain poor man, in an action of debt, being fined the sum of thirteen shillings and fourpence, in the reign of Henry III. Radulphus de Ingham, lord chief justice of the King's Bench, commiserating his case, caused the court-roll to be erased, and the fine to be reduced to six shillings and eight-pence, which being soon after discovered, Ingham was amerced in a pecuniary mulet of eight hundred marks, and that sum was employed in erecting the bell tower, wherein was placed a bell and a clock, which striking hourly, was to remind the judges in the hall of the fate of their brother.

Upon the demolition of this tower in 1715, the great bell was granted to the clock of the new cathedral of St. Paul, London, whither it was removed, and stood under a shed in the church-yard till the turret was prepared for its reception. The clock had not long been up before the bell was cracked, and re-cast, but with such bad success, that in a few years it was thought necessary to take it down again, and the experiment repeated with better success. On the old bell was inscribed:

Tercius aptabit me Rex, Edwardque vocavit,
Sancti decore Edwardi signeretur ut hore.

Meaning that the third king gave this bell, and named it Edward, that the hours of St. Edward might be properly noticed. It is probable, that Henry III. having been a refounder of the adjoining abbey of St. Peter, some years beVOL. IV.

No. 87,

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fore

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fore erected by Edward the Confessor, might dedicate this bell in honour of their patron saint *.

The range of antient buildings on the south side of this quadrangle, next the Thames, was appropriated to the COURT OF STAR CHAMBER, so tremendous during the reigns of the Tudors and Stuarts. It arose a new-modelled court during the tyrannical governments of Henry VII. and VIII. and consisted of several lords spiritual and tem poral, with two judges of the common law, without the intervention of a jury. Its powers were so shamefully abused, and made so subservient to the revenge of a ministry, or the views of a crown, as to be abolished by the House of Commons in the reign of Charles I. The building next claiming attention is

WESTMINSTER HALL.

The old ball was built by William Rufus, as a banquetting house to the palace, which stood in the place now

plates called Old Palace Yard; but Richard II, ordered the whole

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to be pulled down, and the present edifice was erected in its stead in the year 1397+.

This antient building is of stone, the front ornamented with two towers adorned with carved work. The ball within

Among the superstitions of the church of Rome, was that of christening bells, with the attendance of godfathers, &c. who made responses, as in the baptism of a child, giving it a name, and clothing it with a new garment, as Christians used to be clothed, and believing that this would make it capable of driving away tempests and devils. Whilst this opinion lasted, the bell kept its primeval name of Edward; but when the Reformation took place, the poor bell's christian name was degraded to vulgar Tom; as is plain by the following catch composed to music by Eccles :

"Hark! Harry, 'tis late, 'tis time to be gone,

For Westminster Tom, by my faith, strikes one.

+ In 1399, he kept his Christmas with his characteristic magnificence. Twenty-eight oxen, three hundred sheep, and fowls without number, were consumed; and the number of his guests each day of the feast amounted to ten thousand, to supply whom two thousand cooks were employed.