His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Vice-Patron.
The Earl of Dartmouth, President.
The avowed purpose of this excellent Institution was, to give to the painters a facility in selling their works, and to form a school of painting for the rising generation, by furnishing exemplars by the old masters, from the collections of the nobility and gentry who formed and supported the plan.
At a meeting of subscribers of fifty guineas or upwards, in June 1805,
PRESENT,
Earl of Dartmouth in the chair
VICE-PRESIDENTS,
The Marquis of Abercorn,
Sir Francis Baring, Bart.
Sir George Beaumont, Bart.
Right Hon. Isaac Corry, M. P.
Thomas Bernard, Esq.
Lord de Dunstanville,
Charles Duncombe, Esq. M. P.
John Egerton, Esq.
William Fitzhugh, Esq. M. P.
Sir A. Hume, Bart.
Henry Hope, Esq.
Thomas Hope, Esq.
Lord Viscount Lowther,
E. L. Loveden, Esq.
Samuel Lysons, Esq.
P. Metcalf, Esq. M. P.
W. Morlafnd, Esq. M. P.
Lord Somerville,
W. Smith, Esq. M. P.
Richard Troward, Esq.
Caleb Whitefoord, Esq.
After resolving that the Earl of Dartmouth be desired to wait on the Prince of Wales, to request that his royal highness will do the Institution the honour of accepting the situation of vice-patron, — It was ordered, that a select committee be authorized to purchase or hire a place for the exhibition. Their choice fell on the Shakespeare Gallery, Pall-Mall, which, in the preceding January, had become the property of Mr. Tassie, from his possessing the fortunate ticket in Alderman Boydell’s lottery; and from Mr. Tassie they purchased the premises, and remaining sixty-three years of the lease, for 5500/.
On the 18th of January, 1806, it was opened with an exhibition of the works of British artists on sale: they sold forty-eight pictures, which produced 2800/. The exhibition closed about the time that the Royal Academy opens; and during this summer the gallery was furnished with many fine pictures by the old masters, from the collections of the founders of the Institution, in order to form a British School of Painting, which had so long been a desideratum. Benjamin West, Esq. P. R. A. wishing to give it some eclat, copied a picture by Vandyke of Govastius, and the Cradle Scene from Rembrandt. It was attended by many pupils of both sexes.
In the ensuing spring the exhibition again commenced; and before it closed, ninety-three pictures were sold for 3950/.
The following season the gallery was again opened to the students, but upon a different plan. It had been suggested by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in one of his lectures, that to take a fine picture by one of the old masters, and paint a companion to it, was a preferable mode of study to that of cold laborious copying: under this idea, the British Institution offered three prizes of 100/. 60/. and 40/. for the three best pictures painted as companions to such of the old masters as the artists chose.
The annexed print is a representation of the gallery at the time these students are at work.
The first premium given by the Institution, anno 1807, was gained by Mr. J. Pocock. The subject is, The insolent Visit of Thomas a Becket to King Henry the Second, A. D. 1164; painted as a companion to Vandyke’s Theodosius, in the collection of Mr. Angerstein.
The second premium was given to Mr. James Green, for his picture of Gadshill and the Carriers; painted as a companion to The Candlelight, by Rubens, in the possession of Mr. Duncombe.
The third premium was given to Miss C. Reinagle — The Interior of a Wood, with Banditti; painted as a companion to Mercury and Admetus, by Salvator Rosa, in the collection of Lord Grantham.
From so fine a school of art, where British genius is countenanced by so liberal an encouragement, what may we not expect? The present sale bids fair to exceed the two former. One of the regulations of the British Institution may be sufficient to give a general idea of the nature of the works admitted.
“Artists who are natives of, or resident in, the United Kingdom, may be exhibitors in the British Gallery; and their works, if originals, and their own property, will be received therein for exhibition and sale; such works being either historical subjects or landscapes painted in oil, statues, basso-relievos, or models in sculpture. But portraits whether large or in miniature, drawings in watercolours, and architectural drawings, are inadmissible.”
The artists pay towards the fund two and a.half percent. on those pictures which are sold; and they have since gratuitously added another two and a half percent. to Mr. V. Green, the the keeper, a very proper compliment to his unremitting attention and gentlemanly conduct in his office.
The annexed print gives a correct and interesting view of this very fine suite of rooms, and the figures have great spirit and appropriate character.
or models in sculpture. But portraits, whether in large or in miniature, drawings in water colours, and architectural drawings, are inadmissible.”
The artists pay towards the fund two and a half per cent, on those pictures which are sold; and they have since gratuitously added another two and a half per cent, to Mr. V. Green, the keeper; a very proper compliment to his unremitting attention and gentlemanly conduct in his office.
The annexed print gives a correct and interesting view of this very fine suite of rooms, and the figures have great spirit and appropriate character.
The annexed print is a view of the grand staircase, taken from the first landing-place, and has a magnificence becoming the residence of a nobleman: it is drawn with great taste and knowledge; the figures are judiciously introduced, and relieve the eye from the unvarying lines of perspective, and the whole presents a coup d’oeil that fills and satisfies the mind.
Montague House was rebuilt for Ralph, Duke of Montague, at the expence of Louis XIV. King of France, in 1678*, by Pouget.
Walpole observes of it, that “what is wanted in beauty, is compensated by the spacious and lofty magnificence of the apartments ” How far this observation is founded in truth, must be in some degree determined by the taste of the reader. The principal parts of the house are decorated by three painters, the historical and allegorical parts by La Fosse, landscapes by Rousseau, and flowers by Jean Baptist Monoyer. The union of these discordant styles produces a kind of garish splendour, which, with the heavy carved and gilt furniture of that day, must have had a large portion of cumbrous magnificence.
The British Museum was established in the year 1753, in consequence of Sir Hans Sloane bequeathing his valuable collection and library, which cost him 50,000/. to Parliament, on condition that they paid his executors 20,000/. for it. The money was raised the same year, by a guinea lottery.
In 1756, the valuable legacy of Egyptian antiquities collected by the late Colonel Lethulier, together with that of his nephew, were added to it.
The Harleian MSS. collected by Lord Oxford’s family, were purchased for 10,000/.; a collection of books, and also 7000/. in cash, left by Major Edwards: in addition to the Cottonian, is the library of Mr. Maddox, historiographer to his majesty, given by his widow.
In 1757, George II. gave the royal library, which consists of about ten thousand books, with eighteen hundred MSS. all collected by the different kings of England. The Cracherode collection has also been since added.
In 1772, by a vote of the House of Commons for the purchase of Sir William Hamilton’s collection of Etruscan, Grecian, and Roman antiquities, the sum of 8410/. was granted, and 840/. to the trustees to provide a repository for them. In 1804, a grant of 8000/. was voted towards an additional building for the reception of the Egyptian antiquities brought over by the expedition under Sir Ralph Abercrombie; and in 1805, a further grant of 8000/. for the same purpose.
In 1805, a grant of 20,000/. was voted for the purchase of the Townleian collection of Greek and Roman antiquities.
A collection of MSS. which were in the possession of the late Marquis of Lansdown, has been purchased for 4800/.
It is impossible in our limits to convey an adequate idea of the immensity of this collection; we shall, therefore, merely give a cursory glance at the general contents of the apartments in the order they are shown to visitors.
The first room contains a vast number of curiosities brought by Captains Cook, Byron, & c. from New Zealand, Otaheite, the Friendly and Sandwich Islands, western coast of California, 8cc.; consisting of dresses, weapons, canoes, fishing tackle, idols, and a variety of matters, remarkable for their ingenuity and exquisite taste.
Second room is a miscellaneous collection of the Harleian curiosities: there are two mummies, various models of works of art, weapons of the ancient Britons, Mexican idols, Chinese and Indian models, &c. and the celebrated portrait of Oliver Cromwell by Cooper.
Third room contains the Lansdown collection.
Fourth room, MSS. Sloaniana.
Fifth, Harleian library: a very curious inscription taken from the breast of a mummy; and portraits of Oliver Cromwell, Charles XII. the Czar Peter, Andrew Marvell, Algernon Sydney, Sir H. Vane, Sir Anthony More, Sir P. P. Rubens, Ben Jonson, and M. S. Merian, celebrated for the exquisite collection of insects painted by her.
Sixth, Harleiana library; containing portraits of Cranmer, Usher, Burleigh, Salisbury, Spelman, Dugdale, Cosmo de Medicis, Duke of Marlborough, Louis XIV. and a beautiful portrait of the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth.
Seventh, The royal library; containing the original Magna Charta; the portraits of Edward III. Henry II. Henry V. Henry VI. Countess of Richmond, Henry VIII. Edward VI. Mary, Elizabeth, Mary Queen of Scots, James I. Charles I. Henrietta, Charles II. William III. Speed, Camden, &c.
Eighth, Banqueting-room, contains only a portrait of George II. and a table made of various specimens of lava. In this room the three painters have exerted all their powers of decoration: it gives a perfect idea of the magnificence of that time, but it is heavy and incongruous; there are many good parts, but they do not unite.
Ninth, Sloane and Cracherode collection — volcanic minerals, spars, &c.
Tenth, Sloane and Cracherode — shells and petrifactions.
Eleventh, Sloane — marine productions and reptiles.
Twelfth, Sloane — birds and beasts.
Thirteenth, Fish and serpents.
Fourteenth, On the staircase is a crocodile 21 feet long.
The noble collections of Sir William Hamilton, Mr. Townley, and the Egyptian antiquities, are arranging in the new building, but not yet opened for public inspection.
The present establishment is as follows:
Forty-one trustees, twenty by virtue of their offices, six representing the Sloane, Cotton, and Harleian families, marked S. C. II. and fifteen chosen by the former twenty.
TRUSTEES BY OFFICE.
Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Lord Chancellor.
Lord President of the Council.
First Lord of the Treasury.
Lord Privy Seal.
First Lord of the Admiralty.
Lord Steward.
Lord Chamberlain.
Three Secretaries of State.
Bishop of London.
Speaker of the House of Commons.
Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench.
Master of the Rolls.
Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.
Attorney General.
Solicitor General.
President of the Royal Society.
President of the College of Physicians.
FAMILY TRUSTEES.
C. Sir George Cornwall, Bart. LL. D.
H. Marquis of Tichfield.
C. Francis Annesley, Esq.
S. Hans Sloane, Esq. F. R. S.
H. Duke of Portland, F. R. and A. S. LL. D. K. G.
TRUSTEES ELECTED.
Dean of Lincoln.
Henry Cavendish, Esq. F. R. S.
Marquis Townshend, P. S. A. LL. D. and F. R. S.
Earl Aylesford.
Earl Spencer, K. G.
Duke of Grafton, K. G.
Lord Frederic Campbell.
Marquis Bute.
Bishop of Durham.
Earl of Hardwicke, K. G.
Right Hon. Sir William Scott.
Right Hon. George Rose.
Lord St. Helen’s.
Principal librarian, Joseph Planta, Esq.
Librarian of the MSS. department, F. Douce, Esq. and his assistant, the Rev. T. Maurice.
Printed books, Henry Ellis, Esq. and the Rev. H. Harvey Baber.
Natural history, Dr. Shaw and Charles Konig, Esq.
Coins and medals, Taylor Combe, Esq.
Secretary, Mr. Edward Bray.
The Museum is open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, except Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun-week, on Thanksgiving and Fast-days, and during August and September. Persons wishing admittance are to apply at the anti-room, between the hours of ten and two, and inscribe their names and residence in a book kept there. Five companies of not more than fifteen each are admitted, at ten, eleven, twelve, one, and two o’clock; but there is no necessity for fifteen going in one party, the first fifteen names on the book are admitted together, if they should happen to be all strangers to each other.
The reading-room is open, under certain regulations, from ten till four every day, except Saturdays and Sundays.
N. B. When the new rooms are opened for the inspection of visitors, it is understood that eight companies, instead of five, will be admitted.
* The Duke of Montague was at that time at the court of France, when receiving intelligence that his house was destroyed by fire, his spirits became greatly depressed, which induced Louis XIV. to send artists to London, to repair the losses the noble duke had sustained.
The annexed print gives an accurate and interesting view of this abode of wretchedness, the Pass-Room. It was provided by a late act of Parliament, that paupers, claiming settlements in distant parts of the kingdom, should be confined for seven days previous to their being sent off to their respective parishes; and this is the room appointed by the magistracy of the city for one class of miserable females. The characters are finely varied, the general effect broad and simple, and the perspective natural and easy.
Bridewell, as early as King John, was a royal palace, formed partly out of the remains of an ancient castle, the western Arx Palatina of the city, and the residence of several of our monarchs; but in process of time became neglected: till, in 1522, Henry VIII. rebuilt it in a most magnificent manner, for the reception of the Emperor Charles V. who in that year paid him a visit: Charles was, however, lodged in Black Friars, and his suite in the new palace. A gallery of communication was thrown over Fleet-Ditch, and a passage cut through the city wall to the emperor’s apartments. Henry often lodged here, particularly in 1529, when the question of his marriage with Queen Catherine was agitated in Black Friars. It fell afterwards to decay, and was begged by the pious Prelate Ridley from Edward VI. to be converted to some charitable purpose: that of a house of correction for vagabonds of each sex and all denominations was determined on. It also answers another purpose; it is a foundation for youth who are bound apprentices to different trades under what are called Arts-Masters*; and forms part of the great plan of benevolence adopted by the amiable Edward VI. when he endowed the city hospitals, of which this is one. It is situated in Bridge-street, Black Friars, and gives the name to Bridewell precinct in the neighbourhood; the whole building forms a square, consisting of the houses of the arts-masters, who are six in number, the prisons for the men and women, the committee-room, and a chapel.
The men’s prison is a good brick building, on the western side, consisting of thirty-six sleeping-rooms, and seven other apartments. Every man has a room to himself, containing a bedstead, straw in a sacking, a blanket, and coverlet. The other rooms consist of workshops, a sick-room, which is a very comfortable apartment, and a larger, in which idle apprentices are confined separate from the other prisoners. In the working-room are junk and oakum, which the prisoners pick, and mills where they grind corn. The task-master’s apartments, and the women’s prison, which is separate from the men’s, are on this western side. The committee-room is on the south side, where a committee of the governors meet every week to examine the prisoners. There are excellent regulations to this prison: in the cellar is a bath, in which the prisoners are occasionally washed; but there is no yard for them to walk in, which is a great defect in any house of this description.
The original plan of this hospital, combined and incorporated with the hospitals of Christ and St. Thomas, was so benevolent, and of such comprehensive utility, that it is worthy to be followed, improved, and completely executed, by the wisest and best of men, in the wisest and best of times. It was to “train up the beggar’s child to virtuous industry, so that from him no more beggars should spring; to succour the aged and the diseased; to relieve the decayed housekeeper and the indigent; and to compel the wretched street-walker and the vagabond to honest labour.” Its design was, to include every class of the unfortunate, the helpless, and the depraved. To effect this, the governors were instituted, and are, as a body corporate, empowered to make* “all manner of wholesome and honest ordinances, statutes, and rules, for the good government of the poor in Bridewell.” Many very important alterations have taken place in this hospital within the last century, particularly in the years 1792 and 1793. Pennant, whose account of London was published in 1793, states the number of arts-masters at twenty; they are now reduced to six. The number of apprentices taught and maintained, he does not state; in the year 1717, they amounted to one hundred and three received within the year, and in 1718, to ninety-four. — Vide Speed. The apprentices are now reduced to thirty.
The late improvements in the buildings at Bridewell have been very great. The entrance is by a very noble front, of the Doric order; on the key-stone of the arch is a head of the illustrious founder. The apartments in this center are destined for the residence of the chamberlain of the city of London, who is also treasurer. Adjoining this building are six new houses, corresponding with the other houses in Bridge-street, the back parts of which occupy what was before a court-yard, in which resided several of the arts-masters. A new chapel, and a very noble apartment called the committee-room, complete the improvements on the eastern and principal side. On the north have been some alterations. The male prisoners are removed to a new building erected on the western side; and the arts-masters, who lived on that site, are removed to houses erected for them on the north side.
The court-room is an interesting piece of antiquity, as on its site were held courts of justice, and probably parliaments, under our early kings. At the upper end are the old arms of England; and it is wainscotted to a certain height with English oak, ornamented with carved work. This oak was formerly of that solemn colour which it attains by age, and was relieved by the carving being gilt. It must have been no small effort of ingenuity to destroy at one stroke all this venerable time-honoured grandeur: it was, however, happily achieved by daubing over with paint the fine veins and polish of the old oak, to make a very bad imitation of the pale modern wainscot; and other decorations are added in a similar taste.
On the upper part of the wall are the names, in gold letters, of benefactors to the hospital: the dates commence with 1565 and end with 1713. This is said to have been the court in which the sentence of divorce was pronounced against Catherine of Arragon, which had been concluded on in the opposite monastery of the Black Friars.
From this room is the entrance into the hall, which is a very noble one: at the upper end is a picture, by Holbein, representing Edward VI. delivering the charter of the hospital to Sir George Barnes, then lord mayor; near him are William, Earl of Pembroke, and Thomas Goodrich, Bishop of Ely. There are ten figures in the picture, besides the king, whose portrait is painted with great truth and feeling: it displays all that languor and debility which mark an approaching dissolution, and which unhappily followed so soon after, together – with that of the painter, that it has been sometimes doubted whether the picture was really painted by Holbein: his portrait, however, is introduced; it is the furthest figure in the corner on the right hand, looking over the shoulders of the persons before him.
On one side of this picture is a portrait of Charles II. sitting, and on the other that of James II. standing; they are both painted by Sir Peter Lely. Round the room are several portraits of the presidents and different benefactors, ending with that of Sir Richard Carr Glyn. The walls of this room are covered with the names of those who have been friends to the institution, written in letters of gold.
The new committee-room is finely proportioned, and in a very good style of architecture; as is the new chapel, which is divided from it by the portico, and which together occupy the whole back front of the eastern range of buildings.
The following is a list of the present officers of this hospital and Bethlem, founded by Edward VI. 1553:
President of both Hospitals, Sir Richard Carr Glyn, Bart. Alderman.
Treasurer to ditto, Richard Clark, Esq. Chamberlain of the city of London.
Chaplain at Bridewell, Rev. Henry Budd, B. A.
Physician to both, Thomas Munro, M. D.
Surgeon to ditto, Bryan Crowther, Esq.
Apothecary to ditto, Mr. John Haslam.
Clerk to ditto, Mr. John Poynder.
Steward to Bridewell, accomptant and receiver to both, Air. Bolton Hudson.
Porter to Bridewell, Richard Weaver.
Matron to ditto, Mary Rundle.
* These arts-masters were originally decayed tradesmen, and consisted of shoemakers, taylors, flax-dressers, orris and silk-weavers, &c. The apprentices used to be distinguished by a blue jacket and trowsers, and a white hat: their dress is now in the form of other people’s, distinguished only by a button bearing the head of the founder.
The annexed print gives an accurate representation of this celebrated office at the time of an examination: the characters are marked with much strength and humour, and the general effect broad and simple.
This office has the largest jurisdiction of any in the metropolis, its authority extending to every part of his majesty’s dominions, except the city of London, which is governed by its own magistrates.
Bow-street is, in a peculiar sense, the government office, besides acting as a police office in concert with the others, whose power extends only within a certain district. The police of this country has hitherto been very imperfect: the celebrated Henry Fielding was the first, who, by his abilities, contributed to the security of the public, by the detection and prevention of crimes. In August 1753, while a Bow-street magistrate, he was sent for by the Duke of Newcastle, on account of the number of street-robberies and murders committed nightly, and desired by the duke to form some plan for the detection and dispersion of the dreadful gangs of robbers by whom they were committed. Fielding wrote a plan, and offered to clear the streets of them, if he might have 600/. at his own disposal. The duke approved of his plan; and in a few days after he had received 200/. of the money, the whole gang was entirely dispersed; seven of them were in actual custody, and the rest driven, some out of town, and others out of the kingdom; and so fully had his plan succeeded, that in the entire freedom from street-robberies and murders, the winter of 1753 stands unrivalled during a course of many years. At this time the only profit arising to the magistrate was from the fees of his office: of the profits arising from these sources, however. Fielding had no very high opinion; after complaining that his maladies were much increased by his unremitted attention to his public duties, and having at that time a jaundice, a dropsy, and an asthma, he retired into the country, and from thence went to Lisbon, where he died. The following extract presents an agreeable specimen of that lively writer, still animated in all his sufferings, and it also gives a correct idea of the business of an active and upright magistrate at that time.
Fielding had been advised to try the Bath waters, but in consequence of the message from the Duke of Newcastle, and his exertions to free the metropolis from the desperate gangs of villains that infested it, his health considerably declined, and his was no longer a case in which the Bath waters are considered efficacious. The following account of himself and his office is from his Voyage to Lisbon:
“I had vanity enough to rank myself with those heroes of old times, who became voluntary sacrifices to the good of the public. But lest the reader should be too eager to catch at the word vanity, I will frankly own, that I had a stronger motive than the love of the public to push me on: I will therefore confess to him, that mv private affairs, at the beginning of the winter, had but a gloomy appearance; for I had not plundered the public or the poor of those sums which men who are always ready to plunder both of as much as they can, have been pleased to suspect me of taking; on the contrary, by composing the quarrels of porters and beggars, which I blush to say hath not been universally practised, and by refusing to take a shilling from a man who most undoubtedly would not have had another left, I had reduced an income of about 500/.* a year of the dirtiest money upon earth, to little more than 300/. an inconsiderable proportion of which remained with my clerk; and indeed if the whole had done so, as it ought, he would have been ill paid for sitting sixteen hours in the twenty-four in the most unwholesome as well as nauseous air in the universe.”
That this was the practice of Fielding, there can be no doubt: but that the conduct of some other justices was very flagrant, is equally indisputable; and the memory of the trading justices of Westminster, and Clerkenwell in particular, are handed down with abhorrence and contempt.
To Henry Fielding succeeded his brother, Sir John, who was many years an able and active magistrate.
Patrick Colquhoun, Esq. in his excellent work on the Police, exposed the defects of the system, and the necessity of a reform. It was taken into consideration by Parliament, and in 1792 an act was passed for that purpose, which established seven offices, besides Bow-street and the Marine Police; settled salaries were appointed to the magistrates, and the fees and penalties of the whole paid into the hands of a receiver, to make a fund for the paying these salaries and other incidental expences. This act of the 32d Geo. III. was amended by an act of the 37th, and by another of the 42d.
The present magistrates of Bow-street Office, 1808, are,
James Reed, Esq… £1000 per annum.
Aaron Graham, Esq.… 500
John Nares, Esq.… 500
Three clerks and eight officers.
It is impossible to make many extracts from Mr. Colquhoun’s valuable book. It is the basis of his system, that the numerous tribes of receivers in this metropolis are the great cause of the vice and immorality so widely prevalent, by the easy mode they hold out to the pilferer of disposing of what he has stolen, without his being asked any questions. There are upwards of three thousand receivers of stolen goods in the metropolis alone, and a proportionate number dispersed all over the kingdom.
Impressed with a deep sense of the utility of investigating the nature of the police system, the select committee of the House of Commons on finance turned their attention to this, among many other important objects, in the session of the year 1798; and after a laborious investigation, during which Mr. Colquhoun was many times personally examined, they made their final report; in which they recommended it to Parliament to establish funds, to be placed under the direction of the receiver-general of the police offices, and a competent number of commissioners: these funds to arise from the licensing of hawkers and pedlars, and hackney coaches, together with other licence duties proposed, fees, penalties, &c.; their payments subject to the approbation of the lords commissioners of the Treasury: the police magistrates to be empowered to make bye-laws, for the regulation of the minor objects of the police, such as relate to the controul of all coaches, carts, drivers, &c. and the removal of all annoyances, &c. subject to the approbation of the judges.
They recommended also the establishment of two additional police offices in the city of London, but not without the consent of the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council being previously obtained; and their authority to extend over the four counties of Middlesex, Kent, Essex, and Surry; and that of the other eight offices over the whole metropolis and the four counties also.
“It is proposed to appoint counsel for the crown, with moderate salaries, to conduct all criminal prosecutions.
“The keeping a register of the various lodging-houses.
“The establishment of a police gazette*, to be circulated at a low price, and furnished gratis to all persons under the superintendence of the board, who shall pay a licence duty to a certain amount.”
The two leading objects in the report are:
1st. The prevention of crimes and misdemeanours, by bringing under regulations a variety of dangerous and suspicious trades†, the uncontrouled exercise of which by persons of loose conduct, is known to contribute in a very high degree to the concealment, and by that means, to the encouragement and multiplication of crimes.
2d. To raise a moderate revenue for police purposes from the persons who shall be thus controuled, by means of licence duties and otherwise, so managed as not to become a material burden; while a confident hope is entertained, that the amount of this revenue will go a considerable length in relieving the finances of the country of the expences at present incurred for objects of police; and that in the effect of the general system a considerable saving will arise, in consequence of the expected diminution of crimes, particularly as the chief part of the expence appears to arise after the delinquents are convicted*.
As the leading feature of the report is the security of the rights of the innocent with respect to their life, property, and convenience, this will not only be effected by increasing the difficulty of perpetrating offences, through a controul over those trades by which they are facilitated and promoted; but also by adding to the risk of detection, by a more prompt and certain mode of discovery wherever crimes are committed. Thus must the idle and profligate be compelled to assist the state by resorting to habits of industry, while the more incorrigible delinquents will be intimidated and deterred from pursuing a course of turpitude and criminality, which the energy of the police will render too hazardous and unprofitable to be followed as a trade; and the regular accession of numbers to recruit and strengthen the hordes of criminal delinquents who at present infest society, will be in a great measure prevented.
Of the vigilance of the French system of police just before the Revolution, Mr. Colquhoun speaks highly. This system, which though neither necessary nor even proper to be copied as a pattern, might nevertheless furnish many useful hints, calculated to improve ours, and perfectly consistent with the existing laws; it might even extend and increase the liberty of the subject, without taking one privilege away, or interfering in the pursuits of any one class, except those employed in purposes of mischief, fraud, and criminality.
An anecdote related, on the authority of a foreign minister long resident at Paris, by Mr. C. will give a good idea of the secrecy of their system.
“A merchant of high respectability in Bourdeaux, had occasion to visit the metropolis upon commercial concerns, carrying with him bills and money to a very large amount.
“On his arrival at the gates of Paris, a genteel-looking man opened the door of his carriage, and addressed him to this effect: — ‘Sir, I have been waiting for you some time: according to my notes, you were to arrive at this hour; and your person, your carriage, and your portmanteau, exactly answering the description I hold in my hand, you will permit me to have the honour of conducting you to Monsieur de Sartine’.
“The gentleman, astonished and alarmed at this interruption, and still more so at hearing the name of the lieutenant of the police mentioned, demanded to know what M. de Sartine wanted with him; adding, at the same time, that he never had committed any offence against the laws, and that they could have no right to interrupt and detain him.
“The messenger declared himself perfectly ignorant of the cause of this detention; stating, at the same time, that when he had conducted him to M.de Sartine, he should have executed his orders, which were merely official.
“After some further explanations, the gentleman permitted the officer to conduct him to M. de Sartine, who received him with great politeness, and requesting him to be seated, to his great astonishment, described his portmanteau, and told him the exact sum in bills and specie which he had brought to Paris, where he was to lodge, his usual time of going to bed, and a number of other circumstances, which the gentleman had conceived could only be known to himself.
“M. de Sartine having thus excited attention, put this extraordinary question to him, ’Sir, are you a man of courage?’ The gentleman, still more astonished at the singularity of such an interrogatory, demanded the reason why he put such a strange question; adding, at the same time, that no man ever doubted his courage. M. de Sartine replied, ‘Sir, you are to be robbed and murdered this night! If you are a man of courage, you must go to your hotel, and retire to rest at the usual hour; but be careful that you do not fall asleep; neither will it be proper for you to look under your bed, or into any of the closets which are in your bedchamber: you must place your portmanteau in its usual situation near your bed, and discover no suspicion: — leave what remains to me.If, however, you do not feel your courage sufficient to bear you out, I will procurea person who shall personate you, and go to bed in your stead.’
“The gentleman being convinced, in the course of the conversation, that M. de Sartine’s intelligence was accurate in every particular, refused to be personated, and formed an immediate resolution literally to follow the directions he had received. He accordingly went to bed at his usual hour, which was eleven o’clock: at half past twelve (the time mentioned by M. de Sartine), the door of the bedchamber was burst open, and three men entered with a dark lantern, daggers, and pistols. The gentleman, who was awake, perceived one of them to be his own servant. They rifled his portmanteau undisturbed, and settled the plan of putting him to death. The gentleman, hearing all this, and not knowing by what means he was to be rescued, it may naturally be supposed was under great perturbation of mind during this awful interval; but at the moment the villains were prepared to commit the murder, four police officers, acting under M. de Sartine’s orders, who were concealed under the bed and in the closet, rushed out and seized the offenders with the property in their possession, and in the act of preparing to complete their plan.”
* “A predecessor of mine used to boast, that he made 1000/. a year in his office; but how he did it, is to me a secret. His clerk, now mine, told me I had had more business than he had ever known there; I am sure I had as much as any man could do. The truth is, that the fees are so very low, when any are due, and so much is done for nothing, that if a single justice of the peace had business enough to employ twenty clerks, neither he nor they would get much by their labour. The public will not therefore, I hope, think I betray a secret when I inform them, that I received from government a yearly pension out of the public service money; which I believe indeed would have been larger, had my great patron been convinced of an error which I have heard him utter more than once: — that he could not indeed say that the acting as a principal justice in Westminster was on all accounts very desirable, but that all the world knew it was a very lucrative office. Now to have shewn him plainly, that a man must be a rogue to make a very little this way, and that he could not make much by being as great a rogue as he could be, would have required more confidence than I believe he had in me, and more of his conversation than he chose to allow me; I therefore resigned the office, and the farther execution of my plan,to my brother.”
* This paper is called The Public Hue and Cri /, a police gazette, published every third Saturday in the month, at No. 240, Strand, and sent to the principal magistrates gratis.
† The trades alluded to are the following:
1. Wholesale and retail dealers in naval stores, hand-stuff, and rags.
2. Dealers in old iron and other metals.
3. Dealers in second-hand wearing apparel, stationary and itinerant.
4. Founders and others using crucibles.
5. Persons using draught and truck carts for conveying stores, rags, and metals.
6. Persons licensed to slaughter horses.
7. Persons keeping livery stables and letting horses for hire.
8. Auctioneers who hold periodical or diurnal sales.
The new revenues are estimated to yield 64,000/. The increase of the existing revenues is stated at 19,467/. Total, 83,467/.
* The amount of the general expence of the criminal police of the kingdom, is stated by the committee as follows:
1st. The annual average of the total expence of the seven public offices in the metropolis, from the institution in August 1792, to the end of the year 1797 . £ 18,281 18 6
2d. Total expence of the office in Bow-street in the year 1797, including remunerations to the magistrates in lieu of fees, perquisites, &c. and the expence of a patrol of sixty-eight persons 7,901 7 7
Total for the metropolis 26,183 6 1
The other expences incurred for the prosecution and conviction of felons, the maintenance, clothing, employment, and transportation of convicts, to which may be added the farther sums annually charged on the county rates, amounted in 1797 to 215,869 13 10|
The annexed print represents the greatest public exhibition made by this noble charity, on St. Matthew’s day, September 21st.
Two orations are annually pronounced in praise of this institution, one in Latin and the other in English, by two of the senior boys, called Grecians, who receive a superior education, being designed to complete their studies at the universities, one of them being sent annually to Cambridge, and every three years one is sent to Oxford. The orations are delivered in the presence of the governors and their friends, and the masters of the various schools, &c. in the great hall, a very noble apartment; the scene is truly impressive and solemn. The artists have exerted great ability and judgment in the disposition of such a numerous assemblage of people, in the distribution of the light and shade, and the truth of the perspective. The sketch of the very large picture in the hall adds to the interest.
In the year 1224, eighth Henry III. nine friars of the order of St. Francis arrived at Dover; five of them remained at Canterbury, the other four came to London, where they had so much influence on the piety or the superstition of the people, that in the following year John Ewin, mercer, purchased for them a piece of waste land within Newgate, on which, in about twenty years, rose the house and church of the Grey Friars; The church was one of the most superb of the conventual kind, and was erected by the contributions of the opulent devout. Margaret, second queen to Edward I. in 1306, began the choir, giving in her lifetime 2000 marks, and 100 marks by her testament. Isabella, queen to Edward II. gave 70/. and queen Philippa, wife to Edward III. 62/. towards the building. John de Britagne built the body of the church at a vast expense: Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, gave twenty great beams out of his forest at Tunbridge. No order of monks seem to have had powers of persuasion equal to these poor friars: they raised vast sums for their buildings among the rich; and there were few of their admirers, when they came to die, who did not console themselves with the thoughts of lying within their expiating walls, and if they were particularly wicked, thought themselves secure from the assault of the devil, if their corpse was wrapped in the habit and cowl of a friar. Multitudes, therefore, of all ranks were crowded in this holy ground: it boasts of receiving four queens, Margaret and Isabella above-mentioned; Joan, daughter to Edward II. and wife of Edward Bruce, king of Scotland; and to make the fourth, Isabella, wife to William Warren, titular King of Man, is named. Of these, Isabella, whom Gray so strongly stigmatizes
“She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs,
That tear’st the bowels of thy mangled mate,”
I hope was wrapped in the friar’s garment, for few stood more in need of a daemonifuge. With wonderful hypocrisy, she was buried with the heart of her murdered husband on her breast.
John, Due de Bourbon, one of the noble prisoners taken at the battle of Agincourt, after eighteen years imprisonment, in 1443 here found a tomb.
In the same ground lies Thomas Burdett, Esq. ancestor of the present Sir Francis Burdett. He had a white buck, which he was particularly fond of: this the king, Edivard IV. happened to kill. Burdett, in anger, wished the horns in the person’s body who advised the king to it: for this he was tried, as wishing evil to his sovereign, and for this only, lost his head.
To the regret of the lovers of antiquity, all these ancient monuments and gravestones were sold, in 1545, by Sir Martin Bowes, lord mayor, for about 501.
The library founded here in 1429, by the munificent Whittington, must not be forgotten: it was 129 feet long, 31 broad. In three years it was filled with books to the value of 5561. of which Sir Richard contributed 400/. and Dr. Thomas Winchelsey, a friar, supplied the rest. This was about thirty years before the invention of printing.
On the dissolution, this fine church, after being spoiled of its ornaments for the king’s use, was made a storehouse for French prizes, and the monuments either sold or mutilated.
Henry, just before his death, touched with remorse, granted the convent and church to the city, and caused the church to be opened for divine service.
The building belonging to the friars was by Edward VI. applied to this useful charity. That amiable young prince did not require to be stimulated to good actions; but it is certain, that, after a sermon of exhortation by Ridley, bishop of London, he founded the three great hospitals in this city, judiciously adapted to provide for the necessities of the poor, divided into three classes:
Christ-Church Hospital for the orphan, St. Thomas’s Hospital for the diseased, and Bridewell for the thriftless. After the sermon, Edward ordered the good bishop to attend him. The account of this interview is very interesting, and as Stow relates it as a matter of fact from the word of the bishop, I shall extract a part of it verbatim.
“As soon as the sermon was ended, the king willing him not depart until that he had spoken to him, and this that I now write was the very report of the said Bishop Ridley, who, according to the king’s command, gave his attendance; and so soon as the king’s majesty was at leisure, he called for him to come unto him in a great gallery at Westminster; where, to his knowledge, and the king told him so, there was present no more persons but they two, and therefore made him sit down in one chair, and he himself in another, which, as it seemed, were before the bishop purposely set, and caused the bishop, maugre his teeth, to be covered, and then entered communication with him in this manner:
“First giving him hearty thanks for his sermon and good exhortation for the relief of the poor, ‘But, my lord,’ quoth he, ‘you willed such as are in authorityto be careful thereof, and to devise some good order for their relief, wherein I thinkyou mean me, for I am the first that must make answer to God for my negligence, if I should not be careful therein, knowing it to be the express command of Almighty God to have compassion of his poor and needy members, for whom we must make account unto him. And truly, my lord, I am before all things else most toil ling to travail that way; and I, doubting nothing of your long and approved wisdom and learning, who having such good zeal as wisheth help unto them, but also that you have had some conference with others what ways are best to be taken therein, the which I am desirous to understand, and therefore I pray you to say your mind.’
“The bishop was so amazed and astonished at the goodness and earnest zeal of the king, that he could not tell what to say: but, after some pause, advised him to begin with the city of London; and requested the king to direct his gracious letters to the lord mayor, to consult with such assistants as he thought fit on what might best be done, the bishop promising to assist them in their deliberations.
“To this the king agreed, but made the bishop wait till the letter was written, which having signed and sealed, he gave it to the bishop, desiring him to make all convenient speed, and to let him know the result as early as possible. The bishop the same night delivered the king’s letter to the then mayor. Sir Richard Dobbs, Knight; who the next day sent for two aldermen and six commoners, which were afterwards increased to twenty-four, who, with the good bishop, after various consultations, composed a book on the state of the poor in London.
“This book was presented to the king, who immediately founded the three royal hospitals. For the maintenance of Christ’s Hospital, he gave some lands of the value of 600/. per annum, which had been given to the Savoy, a house founded by Henry VII. for the lodging of pilgrims and strangers, but had declined from its original intention, and had become the resort of vagabonds, who strolled about the fields all day, and were harboured there at night. And for a further relief, a petition being presented to the king for a licence to take in mortmain lands to a certain yearly value, he ordered the patent to be brought to him, and with his own hand filled the blank space with 4000 marks by the year; and then said, in the hearing of his council, ‘Lord, Iyield thee most hearty thanks, that thou hast given me life thus long to finish this work to the glory of thy name.”
In two days after this excellent youth expired, in the sixteenth year of his age and the seventh of his reign, not without suspicion of his end being hastened by the ambitious Northumberland.
“All the English historians dwell with pleasure on the excellent qualities of this young prince. The flattering promises of hope, joined to many real virtues, made him an object of tender affection to the public: he possessed mildness of disposition, application to study and business, a capacity to learn and judge, and an attachment to equity and justice.” — Hume.
Christ’s Hospital, Bridewell, and St. Thomas the Apostle in Southwark, are incorporated by the name of, “The Mayor, Commonalty, and Citizens of the Cityof London, Governors of the Possessions, Revenues, and Goods of the Hospitals of Edward VI. King of England.”
It was not till the year 1552, five years after the king’s grant, that the house of the Grey Friars was fitted up for the reception of the children: they completed it in the same year, and called it Christ’s Hospital; and in September, they took in near four hundred orphans, and clothed them in russet; but ever after they wore blue cloth coats, their present habit, which consists of a blue cloth coat, close to the body, having petticoat skirts to the ankle, yellow under-petticoat, yellow stockings, and a flat round worsted cap: their shoes are tied with strings, from the quantity of which the various classes are distinguishable. In addition to this catalogue of their dress, they have of late years added a pair of breeches made of ticken, for which indulgence the boys gave up their meat suppers, to which they were before entitled, and have bread and cheese instead. Their fare is plain and wholesome, and they sleep in wards kept in a very clean state. There are at present about one thousand boys on this establishment, distributed into thirteen wards. The governors have established a school at Hertford, to which they send the youngest of the children, generally to the number of three hundred, who are taken into the house as room is made by apprenticing off the elder. It is between thirty and forty years since the girls were removed from London to be wholly educated at Hertford: all the girls are educated at this school.
At the instigation of Sir Robert Clayton, lord mayor, who was a great benefactor, Charles II. founded the mathematical school, to which he granted 7000/. to be paid out of a certain fund at 500/. per annum, for the educating forty boys for the sea: of these boys, ten are yearly put out apprentices to merchant vessels, and in their places ten more received.
Another mathematical school, for thirty-seven other boys, was afterwards founded by Mr. Travers; but these boys are not obliged to go to sea. Many able mathematicians and seamen have sprung from these institutions.
The hospital being nearly destroyed by the fire of London, the greater part was rebuilt under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren. The* writing school was founded in 1694, by Sir John Moor, alderman, who is honoured with a statue in front of the building. It is altogether a very extensive building, consisting of many irregular parts; the south front, adjoining Newgate-street, is perhaps the best. The cloisters, the only remains of the conventual house, serve for a thoroughfare, and for a place for the boys to play in. The great hall, a spacious and noble room, was built, after the fire of London, at the sole charge of Sir Joshua Frederic, alderman of London, and cost him 5000/.:
it is 130 feet long, 34 wide, and 44 in height. In this hall is an extraordinary large picture, by Verrio, of King James II. amidst his courtiers, receiving the president of this hospital, several of the governors, and numbers of the children, all kneeling: one of the governors with a grey head, and some of the children, are admirably painted. The history of this picture is curious: it was intended to have represented Charles II. who founded the mathematical school; but he dying while the picture was in hand, James, who never did any thing for the charity, had his own portrait introduced, together with that of the execrable Jefferies, then lord chancellor: Verrio has introduced his own portrait in a long wig. The founder is represented in another picture giving the charter to the governors, who are in their red gowns kneeling; the boys and girls are ranged in two rows: a bishop, probably Ridley*, is in the picture. If this was the work of Holbein, it has certainly been much injured by repair. There is also a fine picture of Charles II. in his robes, with a great flowing black wig: at a distance is a sea view, with shipping; and about him a globe, sphere, telescope, &c.: it was painted by Sir Peter Lely, in 1662.
In this hall the children are daily assembled to their meals: prayers are read by one of the senior boys, and hymns are sung by the children, for which purpose it is furnished with a pulpit; and an organ is played during the time of supper. These public suppers commence the first Sunday after Christmas, and end on Easter Sunday: the time of supping is from six o’clock till half past seven.
The following order has been recently hung up near the entrance of the hall:
Public Suppers
“Ordered, That no person be admitted within the great hall unless introduced by a governor.”
But the grand anniversary held in this hall is on St. Matthew’s day, an account of which accompanies the print.
In the court-room is a three-quarters length of Edward VI. a most beautiful portrait, and indisputably by Holbein.
In this room are also the portraits of two great benefactors to this hospital, and persons of the most enlarged and general benevolence. Sir Wolstan Dixie, lord mayor of London 1585, and Dame Mary Ramsay, wife of Sir Thomas Ramsay, lord mayor 1557.
In a room entirely lined with stone, are kept the records, deeds, and other writings of the hospital. One of the books is a curious piece of antiquity; it is the earliest record of the hospital, and contains the anthem sung by the first children, very beautifully illuminated.
The writing school is a handsome modern building of brick, supported by pillars, forming a spacious covered walk.
The grammar school is a plain brick building, more recently erected.
The permanent revenues of Christ’s Hospital are great, from royal and private donations in houses and lands; but without voluntary subscriptions they are inadequate to the present establishment.
By the grant of the city, the governors license the carts allowed to ply in the city, to the number of two hundred and forty, who pay a small sum for this privilege. They also receive a duty of about three farthings upon every piece of cloth brought to Blackwell Hall, granted by acts of common council.
The expenditure of this hospital is immense, being at present about 30,000/. per annum.
The governors, who choose their own officers and servants, are unlimited in their number. A donation of 400/. makes a governor: formerly the sum was less, but the office of governor being one of great trust, and of serious importance in its effect to the public, an enlargement of the sum was wisely adopted.
The governors of Christ’s Hospital have been made trustees to several other extensive charities by their founders. Among these charities, there is one of 10/. each, for life, to four hundred blind men. This ought to be known, because these funds have been often confounded with those of Christ’s Hospital, which they do not in the least augment, the governors not being at liberty to apply such funds to any of the uses of the hospital.
The greater part of the buildings belonging to this noble institution being through age in a state of irreparable decay, the governors have lately resolved to rebuild the whole upon a plan of uniformity and magnificence.
The present officers of Christ’s Hospital are,
President, Sir John William Anderson, Bart. Alderman.
Treasurer, James Palmer, Esq.
Physician, Richard Budd, M. D.
Surgeon, Thomas Ramsden, Esq.
Apothecary, Mr. Henry Field.
Chief clerk, Richard Corp, Esq.
Receiver, Mr. Thomas Whilby.
Assistant clerks, Mr. Matthew Cotton and Mr. James White.
Grammar master, Rev. Arthur William Trollop, M. A.
Under grammar master, Rev. L. P. Stephens, M. A.
Master of the reading school, Ralph Peacock, M. A.
Master of the mathematics, Mr. Lawrence Gwynne.
Master of the mathematics on Mr. Travers’s foundation, Rev. Thomas Edwards, M. A.
Writing masters, Mr. J. Allen and Mr. T. Goddard.
Drawing master, Mr. John Wells*.
Music master, Mr. Robert Hudson.
Steward, Mr. Matthew Hathaway.
AT HERTFORD.
Grammar master and catechist. Rev. F. W. Franklin, M. A.
Steward and upper writing master, Mr. Benjamin Flude.
Second writing master, Mr. Henry Rix Whittel.
Surgeon and apothecary, Mr. Colbeck.
Matron, Mrs. Royd.
Girls’ schoolmistress, Mrs. Ann Sparrow,
Second ditto. Miss Eliza Payne.
On the admission of a governor, the following serious and impressive charge is solemnly given him, in the presence of the president, or treasurer, and other governors assembled in court:
“Worshipful!
“The cause of your repair hither at this present is, to give you knowledge, that you are elected and appointed by the lord mayor and court of aldermen, to the office, charge, and governance of Christ’s Hospital.
“And, therefore, this is to require you and every of you, that you endeavour yourselves, with all your wisdom and power, faithfully and diligently to serve in this vocation and calling, which is an office of high trust and worship: for ye are called to be the faithful distributors and disposers of the goods of Almighty God to his poor and needy members; in the which office and calling if ye shall be found negligent and unfaithful, ye shall not only declare yourselves to be the most unthankful and unworthy servants of Almighty God, being put in trust to see the relief and succour of his poor and needy flock; but also ye shall shew yourselves to be very notable and great enemies to that work, which most highly doth advance and beautify the commonwealth of this realm, and chiefly of the city of London.
“These, therefore, are to require you, and every of you, that ye here promise, before God and this assembly of your fellow-governors, faithfully to travail in this your office and calling, that this work may have his perfection, and that the needy number committed to your charge be diligently and wholesomely provided for, as you will answer before God at the hour and time when you and we shall stand before him, to render an account of our doings. And this promising to do, you shall be now admitted into this company and fellowship.”
* So dreadful is the rage of religious persecution, that even this benevolent and virtuous prelate could not escape its fury: he was burnt for heresy at Oxford, together with J^atimer, bishop of Worcester, by order of Mary, 1555.
* About the year 1721, a drawing master was added to the establishment: Mr. Bernard Lens was the first; to him succeeded the late Mr. Green; the present gentleman is the third who has held the office.
The accompanying print represents, with great humour and animation, a scene in this renowned school of British oratory, an academy from which many illustrious orators, both of the bar and the senate, have derived that energetic and forcible manner, which, in honour of the original seminary, is so emphatically termed Bilingsgate. The power of their eloquence has raised such a tempest and whirlwind of passion in the gentle bosoms of two fair disputants, that, forgetting or laying aside the native softness and delicacy of their sex, they have engaged in furious combat. One of them is just overthrown by her more fortunate adversary, but though fallen, her spirit seems to rise above her fate, and she yet dares the conflict and hopes for victory. Their sister Naiads on either side encourage and foment the immortal strife: one of them has fallen with inconceivable fury on a wretch, who is possibly a Frenchman and a fiddler, and has probably raised this storm by either undervaluing the fair one’s fish, or having made some mal-a-propos observation on its degree of freshness; be this as it may, he seems to be nearly in as bad a situation as Orpheus,
"When, by the rout that made the hideous roar,
His goary visage down the stream was sent,
"Down the swift Hebrus to the Lesbian shore.”
It appears highly probable that the ladies who used poor Orpheus so cruelly, were Grecian Billingsgates; and as they were votaries of Bacchus, and acted under his divine impulse, it seems to strengthen the opinion: certain it is, that the English poissardes are as jealous devotees of the jolly god, as the Grecian Mcenades could be for their lives, and quite as apt to be quarrelsome in their cups: but this point may be left to the learned to settle. In the foreground of this print, one of the ladies is so overcome that she is quite insensible to the kindness of a fisherman, who is entreating her to drink another cup of comfort; she is equally insensible to the robbery a dog is committing on her basket of fish. The old citizen buying a turbot, and the various groups of market people, are delineated with great spirit and fidelity. The buildings are extremely accurate, the perspective easy and natural, and the tout-ensemble interesting and animated.
“Billingsgate, or, to adapt the spelling to the conjectures of antiquaries, who go ‘ beyond the realms of chaos and old night/ Belin’s-gate, or the gate of Belinus, king of Britain, fellow-adventurer with Brennus, king of the Gauls, at the sacking of Rome, three hundred and sixty years before the Christian sera: I submit to the etymology, but must confess there does not appear any record of a gate at this place. His son Lud was more fortunate, for Ludgate preserves his memory to every citizen who knows the just value of antiquity. Gate here signifies only a place where there was a concourse of people*, a common quay or wharf, where there is a free going in and out of the same*. This was a small port for the reception of shipping, and for a considerable time the most important place for the landing of almost every article of commerce. It was not till the reign of William III. that it became celebrated as a fish-market; he, in 1699, by act of Parliament, made it a free port for fish. This act also settled the tolls and duties to be taken, appoints a fine of 20/. to be levied on any fishmonger convicted of engrossing, and permits the sale of mackarel on Sundays. The practice of engrossing and regrating still increasing, it was thought necessary, by an order of the lord mayor, 1707, to endeavour to remedy this abuse. The order states, that, Whereas in and by an act of Parliament made in the tenth and eleventh years of the reign of King William III. entitled “An act to make Billingsgate a free market for fish, &c. it was provided, that any person might buy or sell any kind of fish in the said market, and sell them again in any other market by retail. But the fishmongers bought up the cargoes of the fishermen, and sold them again in the same market, which considerably enhanced the price to the consumer: it was therefore ordered, that no fishmonger, or other person, should sell, or expose to sale, any fish at Billingsgate market; only fishermen, their wives, apprentices, or servants, were to be permitted to sell in the market by retail, that the citizens might have the fish at first hand, according to the true meaning of the law. It was ordered also, that the hours for the fish-market should be, from Lady-day to Michaelmas, at four o’clock in the morning, and from Michaelmas to Lady-day, at six o’clock; that none presume to buy or sell any fish before those hours, except herrings, sprats, mackarel, and shell-fish, on pain of being proceeded against as forestalled of the market. Notice of the opening of the market is given by the ringing of a bell; the market continues open till twelve o’clock, when the business closes for two hours, after which it again commences, and continues till five in the evening. The whole is under the jurisdiction of the lord mayor and court of aldermen. A clerk of the market attends to receive the tolls, &c.; and he has authority to order, that all the fish brought into the port shall be sold in the market, and all fish that he shall deem putrid and unwholesome, by his order must be destroyed. The business of the market is now conducted by salesmen, to whom the cargoes of the boats are consigned by the owners; great quantities of fish are also brought from the coast by land carriage. About fourteen or fifteen years since, commenced the practice of bringing fresh salmon from Newcastle and Berwick, enclosed in boxes of ice, by which excellent contrivance the inhabitants of London are supplied with that fish extremely reasonable and in the greatest perfection.
Pennant gives a curious list of the fish brought to market in the reign of Edward I. who descended even to regulate the prices.
“Among these fish, let me observe the conger is at present never admitted to any good table; and to speak of serving up a porpoise whole, or in part, would set your guests a-staring; yet such is the difference of taste, that both these fish were in high esteem. King Richard’s master cooks have left a most excellent receipt for congur in sawsc*; and as for the other great fish, it was either to be eaten roasted or salted, or in broth, or furmente with porpesse. The learned Doctor Caius even tells us the proper sauce, and says, that it should be the same with that for a dolphin; another dish unheard of in our days. From the great price the lucy or pike bore, one may reasonably suspect it was at that time an exotic fish, and brought over at a vast expence. To this list of sea-fish, which were in those days admitted to table, may be added the sturgeon and ling; and there is twice mention, in Archbishop Nevill’s great feast, of a certain fish, both roasted and baked, unknown at present, called a thirl-poole.”
The annexed print is a view of the great hall, which is conceived with a classic elegance, that does honour to the genius of the late Mr. Holland, who was the architect of Carlton House. The size of the hall is forty-four feet in length and twenty-nine in breadth. The entrance to the hall from the vestibule is by a flight of steps, which gives it an air of uncommon grandeur; it is supported by eight fine columns of the Ionic order, with architrave, frieze, and cornice. The ceiling is coved, and ornamented with plain caissons, and lighted by a skylight of an oval form. The columns are finely executed in scaglioni, of a yellow porphyry; the capitals and bases are bronzed, as are all the ornaments in the hall. In four corresponding niches are casts from the antique, of two Muses, the Antinous and the Discobulus; on the cornice are placed busts, urns, and griffins; over the niches are basso-relievos, which are also bronzed. At each . end of the hall is a stove of a new and elegant construction; six Termini of fine workmanship support a dome or canopy: the whole is executed in cast-iron bronzed. Over each fire-place is an allegorical painting in imitation of bronze basso-relievo, and compartments over the doors in the same manner: the tout-ensemble is striking and impressive. There is in this hall a symmetry and proportion, a happy adjustment of the parts to produce a whole, that are rarely seen; it is considered as the chef d’ oeuvre of Mr. Holland, and would do honour to any architect of any age or country.
Of the print it may be proper to say, that it is drawn with great accuracy and feeling, the perspective is easy and natural, and the general effect broad and simple. The figures are few, but introduced with great taste: it must be obvious, that a greater number would have impaired the general effect of the architectural design.
The new circular dining-room, when completed, will unquestionably be one of the most splendid apartments in Europe: the walls are entirely covered with silver, on which are painted Etruscan ornaments in relief, with vine-leaves, trellis-work, &c. There are eight fine Ionic columns in scaglioni, of red granite; the capitals and bases are silver, as are also the enrichments, moulding. See. of the architrave, frieze, and cornice: the latter is surmounted by an ornament that is somewhat Turkish in its character, and which, if it does not belong to the Ionic order, nevertheless adds to the splendour of the room. There are four immense pier glasses, and under each of them a fine marble chimney-piece of exquisite workmanship. As this sumptuous apartment is not yet completed, it would be improper to attempt a perfect description of it; indeed, almost the whole of Carlton House is undergoing alterations and improvements. On the south side of this apartment a door opens into the ballroom, a most magnificent and princely apartment: the walls are painted white, but the room is nearly covered with a profusion of gilding; the pilasters, architrave, frieze, and cornice are all covered with gold; the ceiling represents a pleasing sky, in which are genii sporting on the clouds; and in the compartments between the pilasters are some Etruscan ornaments, painted with great lightness and delicacy. On the opposite side another door opens into a new room, intended for a drawing-room, and though at present in a very unfinished state, it strikes the eye with the uncommon symmetry and harmony of its proportions.
Amid the curiosity and interest raised by a view of Carlton House, nothing can exceed that which is excited by an examination of
The Armory
This valuable and unique collection is a museum, not of arms only, but of various works of art, dresses, &c.: it is arranged with great order, skill, and taste, under the immediate inspection of His Royal Highness. It occupies five rooms on the attic story; the swords, firearms, &c. are disposed in various figures upon scarlet cloth, and inclosed in glass cases: the whole is kept in a state of the most perfect brightness. Here are swords of every country, many of which are curious and valuable, from having belonged to eminent men: of these the most remarkable is a sword of the famous Chevalier Boyard, the knight sans pear et sans reproche. The noble reply of this illustrious dying soldier, made to the Constable of Bourbon, deserves to be remembered. In the war between the Emperor Charles V. and Francis I. of France, the constable had gone over to the emperor, disgusted at the persecutions he met with in France, from the rage of Louisa of Savoy, the queen mother, whose overtures of marriage he had rejected. The emperor made the constable generalissimo of his armies; and in a battle which was fought in the duchy of Milan, and in which the French were obliged to retreat, the Chevalier Boyard was mortally wounded. Charles of Bourbon seeing him in this state, told him how greatly he lamented his fate. “It is not me” said the dying chevalier, “it is not me you should lament, but yourself, who are fighting against your king and country.” A sword of the great Duke of Marlborough, one of Louis XIV. and one of Charles II.: the two last are merely dress swords. A curious silver-basket-hilted broad sword of the Pretender’s, embossed with figures and foliage. But the finest sword in this collection is one of excellent workmanship, which once belonged to the celebrated patriot Hampden; it was executed by Benvenuto Cellini, a celebrated Florentine, who was much employed by Francis I. and Pope Clement VII.
Peter Torrigiano, who executed the monument of Henry VII. in Westminster abbey, endeavoured to bring over Cellini to England, to assist him; but Cellini disliking the violence of his temper, who used to boast that he had given the divine Michael Angelo a blow in the face with his fist, the marks of which he would carry to the grave*, refused to come with him. Vasari, who was contemporary with Cellini, speaks of him in the highest terms. He was originally a goldsmith and jeweller, and executed small figures in alto and basso-relievo with a delicacy of taste and liveliness of imagination not to be excelled: various coins of high estimation were executed by him for the Duke of Florence; and in the latter part of his life, he performed several large works in bronze and in marble with equal reputation. He wrote his own memoirs, which contain much curious and interesting information relative to the contemporary history of the arts.
The ornaments on the hilt and ferrule of the scabbard of this curious sword are in basso-relievo in bronze, and are intended to illustrate the life of David: it is a most beautiful piece of work, and in the highest preservation; it is kept with the greatest care in a case lined with satin.
In the armory is a youthful portrait of Charles XII. of Sweden, and beneath it is a couteau de chasse used by that monarch, of very rude and simple workmanship. A sword of General Moreau’s, and one of Marshal Luckner’s: but it would be impossible in our limits to notice a hundredth part of what is interesting in this collection.
In another room are various specimens of plate armour, helmets, and weapons; some Indian armour of very curious workmanship, composed of steel ringlets, similar to the hauberk worn by the Knights Templars, but not so heavy, and the helmets are of a different construction. Here are also some cuirasses, as worn at present in Germany; a very curious collection of firearms, of various countries, from the match-lock to the modern improvements in the firelock; air-guns, pistols, &c. In this room are also some curious saddles, Mamaluke, Turkish, &c.; some of the Turkish saddles are richly ornamented with pure gold.
Another room contains some Asiatic chain armour, and an effigy of Tippoo Sultaun on horseback, in a dress that he wore. Here are also a model of a cannon and a mortar on new principles; some delicate and curious Chinese works of art in ivory, many rich eastern dresses, and a palanquin of very costly materials.
In another apartment are some curious old English weapons, battle-axes,maces, daggers, arrows, &c.; several specimens also, from the Sandwich and other South Sea Islands, of weapons, stone hatchets, &c.
Our young men of fashion who wish to indulge a taste for antiquarian researches, may project the revival of an old pattern for that appendage of the leg called boots, from the series of them worn in various ages, which form a singular part of this collection.
In presses are kept an immense collection of rich dresses, of all countries; and indeed so extensive and multifarious are the objects, that to be justly appreciated it must be seen. His Royal Highness bestows considerable attention on this museum, and it has in consequence arrived in a few years to a pitch of unrivalled perfection. Among the dresses are sets of uniforms, from a general to a private, of all countries who have adopted uniforms, and military dresses of those who have not. All sorts of banners, colours, horse-tails, &c.; Roman swords, daggers, stilettoes, sabres, the great two-handed swords, and amongst the rest, one with which executions are performed in Germany, on the blade of which is rudely etched, on one side a figure of Justice, and on the other the mode of the execution, which is thus: — the culprit sits upon a chair, and the executioner comes behind him, and at one blow severs the head from the body. There are also some curious portraits in these apartments; besides the one of Charles XII. there is one of Frederic the Great, and various other princes and great men renowned for their talents in the art of war.
Of the exterior of Carlton House it may be sufficient to observe, that it is situated on the north side of St. James’s Park, and that the principal front faces Pall-Mall*. The portico is a most splendid and magnificent work, of the Corinthian order, enriched with every embellishment that elegant order is capable of receiving. It has been objected, that the other parts of this front are too plain to correspond with so rich a portico: the front is rustic, and therefore does not admit of ornament; but the eye is hurt by the violence of the transition from the most luxuriant decoration to the most rigid plainness. Carlton House, with its court-yard, is separated from Pall-Mall by a dwarf screen, which is surmounted by a very beautiful colonnade. A riding-house and stables, belonging to His Royal Highness, are at the back, immediately contiguous to St. James’s Park. The garden is laid out with the utmost taste and skill of which its limits are capable.
On the 8th of February, 1790, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales had a state levee, for the first time, at his palace of Carlton House, which was the most numerous of any thing of the kind for many years; and, except the want of female nobility, was more numerous and splendid than the generality of the drawing-rooms even at St. James’s.
Carlton House was a palace belonging to the crown, and presented by His Majesty to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, on his coming of age, for his public town residence. The old building being out of repair, it was judged proper by Parliament to enable His Majesty to erect the present noble edifice in its room; and Mr. Holland had the honour of being appointed the architect. There is only one thing wanting in this palace, and which, from the present state of the arts, and still more the liberal manner in which they are at present patronized, we hope it is in His Royal Highness’s contemplation to supply. It is a collection of pictures by living artists; these, selected with His Royal Highness’s well known delicacy of taste and judgment, would complete the decorations of this truly magnificent and princely palace.
* This event happened in the palace of Cardinal di Medici: — Torrigiano being jealous of the superior honours paid to Michael Angelo, brutally struck him in the face; his nose was flattened by the blow: the aggressor fled, and entered into the army, but being soon disgusted with that life, left it and came over to England.
* Pall-Mall was formerly laid out as a walk, or place for the exercise of the mall, a game long since disused; its northern side being bounded by a row of trees, and that to the south by the old wall of St. James’s Park.
Is in the parish of Lambeth, in Surry, and was instituted in the year 1758, for the reception of friendless and deserted girls, the settlement of whose parents cannot be found. It was incorporated in the year 1800.
The annexed print is an interesting representation of the objects of this benevolent institution at their repast, in the presence of some of their guardians, who seem to contemplate the good order, cheerfulness, innocence, and comforts of their little wards, with all that interest and delight, that luxury of fine feeling, which irradiates the countenance when the heart is glowing with benevolence, animated with the exercise of an important duty, and gratified by the conviction that their virtuous endeavours are crowned with success. The coup d’ceil of the print is most impressive, and does great honour to’ the talents and feelings of the artists. The sweet innocence of the children, the benevolence of the guardians, and the chaste and matron-like simplicity of the building, aided by a fine breadth of effect, form a whole, which at the same time that the parts are in perfect harmony with each other, is admirably calculated to awaken the tender emotions of the humane heart, and excite the spectator to the exertion of those tender and kindly feelings, which do honour to our nature.
This charity owes its establishment to that vigilant and active magistrate. Sir John Fielding; who had long observed, that though the laws of this kingdom provided a parish settlement for every person, by birth, parentage, apprenticeships, &Y. yet many cases continually occurred, in which such settlements were difficult, if not impossible, to be ascertained; and therefore he and others were solicitous to remove, in part, this source of female wretchedness. By their exertions, and the continued endeavours of those who have hitherto conducted the plan, their benevolent intentions have been rewarded with the most signal success. The generous and discerning public has bestowed the means, which have prospered in the hands of the guardians, by whose care two hundred deserted females are daily sheltered and protected from vice and want, supplied with food and raiment, and taught whatever can render them useful in their situation, or comfortable and happy in themselves.
Carefully instructed in the principles of religion; in reading, writing, needlework, and household business, they are trained to habits of industry and regularity, by which means there is a supply of diligent and sober domestics for the use of that public, which, by its contributions, has so nobly acquired a right to their services.
The particular objects of this charity are, the children of soldiers, sailors, and other indigent persons, bereft of their parents, at a distance from any of their relations; who being too young to afford the necessary information respecting settlements, are often left destitute of protection and support, at an age when they are incapable of earning a subsistence, and contending with surrounding dangers.
Females of this description are, in a particular manner, the objects of compassion, and have also a double claim to the care of the humane and virtuous, from being not only exposed to the miseries of want and idleness, but, as they grow up, to the solicitations of the vicious, and the consequent misery of early seduction.
The following are some of the regulations for the government of this charity, which have been made by the guardians from time to time, and now continue in force.
Qualifications of Guardians.
The qualification of an annual guardian is, a yearly subscription of three guineas or upwards.
The qualification of a perpetual guardian is, a subscription of thirty guineas or upwards.
Legacies bequeathed to the use of this charity of one hundred pounds or upwards, when paid, shall entitle the first-named acting executor to be a perpetual guardian.
The guardians, conceiving it to be very essential for promoting one of the chief objects of this institution, earnestly solicit the ladies, who are particularly qualified for that purpose, frequently to visit the charity, inspect the management of the house, and particularly the employment of the children; also to see that they are properly instructed in housewifery, so as to be qualified for useful domestic servants; and from time to time communicate to the committee, by letter or otherwise, such observations as they shall deem proper to make.
Employment of the Children.
The children are to make and mend their own linen; make shirts, shifts, and table-linen; to do all kinds of plain needle-work, and to perform the business of the house and kitchen; to which latter twelve are appointed weekly, according to their age and abilities, to assist the cook, to wash, iron, and get up all the linen. They are likewise taught to read the Bible, write a legible hand, and understand the first four rules in arithmetic.
All kinds of plain needle-work are taken in at the Asylum, and performed
by the children at certain rates, which are regulated by the committee.
The following ore the Rules for placing out the Children.
They are to be bound apprentices for seven years, at the age of fifteen, or sooner, as domestic servants to reputable families in Great Britain.
No girl shall be apprenticed until the character of the master or mistress applying for the same, shall have been enquired into, and approved of by the committee.
Every person applying for an apprentice must appear at the committee, to give the necessary information respecting their situation, unless such appearance be dispensed with by the committee.
When any girl shall become qualified to be an apprentice, the guardian who presented her shall be acquainted therewith, in order to know if such guardian has any place in view for her.
The guardians, desirous of encouraging the children to serve their apprenticeship faithfully, have empowered the committee to grant any orphan apprenticed from the charity, who shall produce to the committee a certificate, signed by her master or mistress (or both if living), of her good behaviour during her apprenticeship, the sum of five guineas, such orphan having first returned public thanks in the chapel for the protection she has received. The committee are empowered to put out at any time, to any trade they shall think proper, such orphans as may have contracted any disease or infirmity, which may render them incapable of domestic service, with a premium not exceeding ten pounds.
The Establishment is as follows:
Patroness of the Institution.
Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen of Great Britain
President.
His Royal Highness Prince Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge.
Vice-Presidents.
The Marquis of Blandford.
Right Honourable Earl Spencer, K. G.
Right Honourable Earl Mansfield.
Right Honourable Admiral Lord Radstock.
Right Honourable Lord Chief Baron.
Sir William Leighton, Knight and Alderman.
A chaplain, a morning preacher, an evening preacher, two physicians, two surgeons, an apothecary, a secretary, messenger, and collector. There are also a treasurer, and a committee consisting of nineteen gentlemen, that are elected annually at the general court held every April. Concerning these for each year, and many other things relative to this praise-worthy institution, every necessary particular may be found in a small abstract account to be had at the Asylum; from which we extracted the following regulations respecting devises or bequests to the charity, as we have much besides in the preceding pages.
Well-disposed persons, who may be inclined to make devises of rent, or bequests of personal property, for the benefit of this charity, being authorised so to do by the act of Parliament whereby it is incorporated, will be pleased to make such devises and bequests to this corporation by the style and title of The President, Vice-presidents, Treasurer, and Guardians of the Asylum for the Reception of Orphan Girls, the Settlement of whose Parents cannot be found.
Bankers and Receivers .
Messrs. Hankey and Co. Fenchurch-street.
Messrs. Drummond, Charing-Cross.
Messrs. Hoares, Fleet-street.
Messrs. Croft and Co. Lombard-street.
Messrs. Vere, Lucadon, and Co. Lombard-street.
Messrs. Sikes, Snaith, and Co. Mansion-house-street.
The committee, who meet at the Asylum every Thursday, at eleven o’clock in the forenoon.
Charles Wright, Esq. treasurer, and The Rev. Mr. Agutter, at the Asylum, chaplain and secretary.
We shall close the account of this benevolent institution with the animated apostrophe of the amiable Pennant.
“It is an institution of a most heavenly nature, calculated to save from perdition of soul and body the brighter part of the creation; those on whom Providence hath bestowed angelic faces and elegant forms, designed as blessings to mankind, but too often debased. The hazards that these innocents are constantly liable to from a thousand temptations, from poverty, from death of parents, from the diabolical procuress, and sometimes from the stupendous wickedness of parents themselves, who have been known to sell their beauteous girls for the purpose of prostitution, induced a worthy hand, in the year 1758, to found the Asylum, or House of Refuge. Long may it flourish, and eternal be the reward of those into whose mind so noble a design entered!”
The Amphitheatre at Westminster bridge has, within these twelve years, been twice destroyed by fire; and the expence of rebuilding, & c. &c. to Messrs. Astleys, the two proprietors, has been estimated as amounting to nearly thirty thousand pounds. The present theatre is the most airy, and in some respects the most beautiful, of any in this great metropolis. The building is one hundred and forty feet long; the width of that part allotted to the audience, from wall to wall, sixty-five feet; and the stage is one hundred and thirty feet wide, being the largest stage in England, and extremely well adapted to the purpose for which it was built, the introduction of grand spectacles and pantomimes, wherein numerous troops of horses are seen in what has every appearance of real warfare, gallopping to and fro, &c. &c. The whole theatre is nearly the form of an egg; two thirds of the widest end forms the audience part and equestrian circle, and the smaller third is occupied by the orchestra and the stage. From this judicious arrangement, the whole audience have an uninterrupted prospect of the amusements. It is lighted by a magnificent glass chandelier, suspended from the center, and containing fifty patent lamps, and sixteen smaller chandeliers, with six wax-lights each. The scenery, machinery, decorations, &c. have been executed by the first artists in this country, under the immediate direction of Mr. Astley, jun. who made the fanciful design.
A very good idea of its general appearance, company, &c. is given in the annexed print.
For a looker-on to describe some part of the amusements would be difficult, perhaps impossible; and luckily it is not necessary, for in an advertisement published November 1807, Mr. Astley himself has described one of them in a manner so singularly curious, that we think it ought to be transmitted to posterity; and have therefore inserted it in this volume.
“TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE.
“Sir,
“Having been strongly requested to give some explanation of the utility of the country dances by eight horses, to be performed this and tomorrow evening, I request you will be so obliging as to insert the following hints.
“First, I humbly think that a thorough command and pliability on horseback, is obtained by such noble exercises. Secondly, that in executing the various figures in this dance, the rider obtains a knowledge of the bridle hand, also capacity and capability of the horse, more particularly at the precise time of casting off and turning of partners, right and left, &c. &c. Thirdly, I also conceive that the horseman may be greatly improved when in the act of reducing the horse to obedience on scientific principles! ! ! and not otherwise. Fourth, as a knowledge of the appui in horsemanship is highly desirable, whether on the road, the chase, or field of honour, I expressly composed the various figures in the country dance for this desirable purpose; and which my young equestrian artists have much profited by, as some of them three months since were never on horseback. It was from this observation, during forty-two years practice, that I gave this equestrian ballet the name of L’Ecole de Mars; and I am strongly thankful that my humble abilities have afforded some little information, as well as amusement, to the town in general.
“I am, with respect,
“The public’s most humble and faithful servant,
“Philip Astley.”
Pavilion, Newcastle-street, Strand .”
From all this, a spectator would be almost tempted to think, that, notwithstanding the numerous and learned dissertations of philosophers to exalt their own species, horses rival man in his superior faculties. I have heard a story on this subject, which I believe has not found its way into Joe Miller; but be that as it may, it is a good story, and in a degree illustrates this subject, and I think my reader will not be displeased at the insertion of it.
Some years ago, a very learned and sagacious doctor of the university of Oxford, composed and read a long lecture on the difference of man from beast; and when describing the former, asserted that man was superior to all other animals; because there was no other animal, except man, who either reasoned or drew an inference, as the inferior order of beings were wholly governed by instinct.
On the conclusion of this philosophical discourse, two of the students, who were not quite satisfied of the fact, walked out to converse upon it, and seeing a house with “Wiseman, drawing master,” inscribed upon the sign, went into the shop, and asked the master what he drew? “Men, women, trees, buildings, or any thing else,” was the reply. “Can you draw an inference?” said one of them. The man took a short time to consider it, and candidly replied, that never having seen or heard of such a thing before, he could not. The students walked out of his house, and before they had proceeded far, saw a brewer’s dray with a very fine horse in it.“ A fine horse this,” said one of them to the driver. “A very fine one indeed,” said the fellow.“ Seems a powerful beast,” said the other, “I believe he is indeed,” replied the fellow. “ He can draw a great load, I suppose?” said the Oxonian. “ More than any horse in this county,” answered the drayman. “Do you think he could draw an inference?” said the scholar. “He can draw any thing in reason, I’ll be sworn,” replied the drayman.
The scholars walked back to the lecture room, and found the company still together; when one of them, addressing the doctor with a very grave face, said to him, “Master, we have been enquiring, and find that your definition is naught; for we have found a man, and a wise man too, who cannot draw an inference, and we have met with a horse that can”
Besides the Amphitheatre, Messrs. Astleys have a very elegant Pavilion, for exhibiting amusements of a similar description, which they have lately erected, and fitted out in a most complete style, in Newcastle street in the Strand, and named Astley’s Pavilion.
At this place the horses have displayed some feats of so wonderful a description, as could not easily be conceived unless they were seen. In this place eight horses have lately performed country dances, &c. in a manner that has astonished all the spectators. To this have been added divers horsemanships, the twelve wonderful voltigers, &c.
The annexed print, which is-
A VIEW OF THE AMPHITHEATRE AT WESTMINSTER BRIDGE,
gives a very good idea of the scene. Mr. Rowlandson’s figures are here, as indeed they invariably are, exact delineations of the sort of company who frequent public spectacles of this description; they are eminently characteristic, and descriptive of the eager attention with which this sort of spectators contemplate the business going forward. Small as the figures are, we can in a degree pronounce upon their rank in life, from the general air and manner with which they are marked.
Mr. Pugin is entitled to equal praise, from the taste which he has displayed in the perspective and general effect of the whole, which renders it altogether an extremely pleasing and interesting little print.
With respect to teaching horses to perform country dances, how far thus accomplishing this animal, renders him either a more happy or a more valuable member of the horse community, is a question which I leave to be discussed by those sapient philosophers, who have so learnedly and so long debated this important business, with respect to man.
The school of Jean Jaques Rousseau, who insist upon it, that man, by his civilization, has been so far from adding to his happiness, that he has increased and multiplied his miseries* will of course insist upon it, that a horse in his natural state must be infinitely happier, than he can be with any improvements introduced by man; that all these artificial refinements must tend to diminish, instead of increasing his felicity; and that, as a horse, he had much better be left in a state of nature, than thus tortured into artificial refinement.
The advocates for Swift’s system of the Houyhnhnms, in Gulliver’s Travels, admitting a horse to be superior to a man, even in his natural state, will unquestionably be of the same opinion ; and we must seek farther for the advantages to be derived by introducing a teacher of dancing, and a master of the ceremonies, to this noble and dignified animal.
It is recorded, that at a much earlier period, a right worshipful mayor of Coventry wished to teach his horse good manners. Queen Elizabeth, in one of her progresses to that city, was met, about a mile before she arrived there, by the mayor and aldermen, who desirous of declaring the high honour which they felt she would thus confer on their city, employed the mayor to be their speaker. The mayor was on horseback, and (as the record saith) the queen was also on horseback, behind one of her courtiers. A little rivulet happening to run across the road where they stopped, the mayor’s horse made several attempts to drink; which the queen observing, told his worship, that before he began his oration, she wished he would let his horse take his draught. “That, an please your majesty, he shall not,” replied the mayor, “that he certainly shall not yet. I would have him to know, that it is proper your majesty’s horse should drink first, — and then, he shall.”
The Admiralty is a brick building, containing the office and apartments for the lords commissioners of the Admiralty, who superintend the marine department, and is contiguous to the Horse Guards on the north. With respect to the architecture, the principal front facing Parliament-street displays a proof that the noble lord and board who presided at the time it was built, had objects of more consequence than symmetry and proportion to attend to: it was designed and erected by Shipley. The screen in the front (which was designed and erected by Adams) is so peculiarly elegant, that it in a degree redeems the other part from disgrace. On the top of the Admiralty are erected two telegraphs, the inside of which may be seen by proper application to the porter, or person who works the machine.
The lord high admiral is classed as the ninth and last great officer of the crown; and the honour it conferred, and trust it vested, were formerly considered to be so great, that the post was usually given either to some of the king’s younger sons, near kinsmen, or one of the chief of the nobility. To the lord high admiral belongeth the cognizance of contracts, pleas, or quarrels made upon the sea, or any part thereof which is not within any county of the realm; for his jurisdiction is wholly confined to the sea. The court is provided for the trial and punishment of all offences committed on the high seas, and is a civil court. Courts-martial in the Admiralty have a judge advocate appointed to assist them. The present judge of the Admiralty is the Right Honourable Sir William Scott, Knight, LL. D. the salary 2500/. The present king’s advocate general is Sir John Nicholl, Knight, LL. D.
In King Henry III.’s days, and in the reigns of Edward I. II. and III. Richard II. Henry IV. V. and VI. there were several admirals; for the cautious wisdom of those days would not trust a subject with so great a charge, nor permit any one man to have a certain estate in a post of so great importance. But, nevertheless, in those days there was a great admiral of England.
King Henry VL in the fourteenth year of his reign, constituted John Holland Duke of Exeter, and Henry Holland his son, admirals of England, Ireland, and Aquitaine for life.
The power of this great officer is described in a statute of Charles II.: it is enacted that he may grant commissions to inferior vice-admirals, or commanders in chief of any squadron of ships, to call and assemble courts-martial, consisting of commanders and captains; and no court-martial, where the pains of death are inflicted, shall consist of less than five captains at least; the admiral’s lieutenant to be as to this purpose esteemed as a captain: and in no case when sentence of death shall pass, by virtue of the articles (for regulating and better governing his majesty’s navies, ships of war, and forces at sea,) aforesaid, or any of them (except in case of mutiny), there shall be execution of such sentence of death, without leave of the lord high admiral, if the offence be committed within the narrow seas. But in case any of the offences aforesaid be committed in any voyage beyond the narrow seas, whereupon sentence of death shall be given in pursuance of the aforesaid articles, or any of them, then execution shall be done by order of the commander in chief of that fleet or squadron wherein sentence was passed.
He hath also power to appoint coroners to view dead bodies found on the seacoast or at sea; commissioners or judges for exercising justice in the High Court, of Admiralty; to imprison and to release, &c.
Moreover to him belong, by law and custom, all fines and forfeitures of all transgressors at sea, on the seashore, in ports, and from the first bridge on rivers towards the sea; also the goods of pirates and felons, condemned or outlawed; and all waifs, stray goods, wrecks of sea deodands; a share of all lawful prizes, lagon, jetson, flotson; that is, goods lying in the sea, goods cast by the sea on the shore, not granted formerly, or belonging to lords of manors adjoining to the sea; all great fishes, as sea-hogs, and other fishes of extraordinary bigness, called royal fishes, whales only and sturgeons excepted.
“De sturgeoni observatur quod rex ilua intergram: de balneo vero sufficit si rex habeat caput et reginse candum.” Master William Prynne, who is one of the commentators upon the above curious law, says, that the reason must be, that “our wise and learned lawgivers willed the queen to have the tail of the whale, that her majesty might have whalebone to make her stays forgetting that this was made law upwards of two hundred years before stays were ever worn or thought of. Note farther, that the bone used for stays, is taken out of the head, and not the tail of the fish.
On this ancient law being once mentioned to the late Dr. Buchan, author of Domestic Medicine, ike. &c. he repeated the following little impromptu, which I think has never before been printed:
“If a sturgeon should chance to be cast upon land,
“Honest George, Heaven bless him! the whole may command;
“But if equal misfortune befal a poor whale,
“Let the king have the head, and the queen the tail.”
It is not the object of this volume to say much concerning the great power and interest which the king of England hath in the British seas; and as to the antiquity of the Admiralty Court, and of the name of Admiral, it may be found in a record mentioned by the Lord Chief Justice Coke (Coke’s Institute, p. 142, entitled “De Superioritate Maris Angliae, et Jure Officii Admiralitatis in eodem), said to be among the archives in the Tower of London.
He is called admiral from amir, an Arabic word signifying prefect us, and in Greek marimis. His patent formerly run thus: “Anglise, Hiberniee, et Aquitaiise magnus admirallus, et praTectus generalis clargis et marium dictorum regnorum.”
The various distinguished actions which have been recorded of many of our admirals, and establish the honour and superiority of the British navy, would fill volumes. To enumerate them would occupy more space than can be here allotted to it, and does not come into the plan of this work; but to close the recital of any thing tending to the establishment of our naval character, without inserting the name of the late Lord Nelson, -would be a very improper omission.
Painters have exhausted their art in pictured representations of his actions; sculptors have hewn marble monuments to eternize his heroic professional abilities, which have been placed in the most conspicuous situations in different public buildings throughout the kingdom; and poets have invoked the muse, and exerted their utmost efforts to perpetuate his fame, in praises that, used to any other individual, might have been deemed extravagant panegyric: but the whole nation appear to have been so gratefully alive to his exalted merit, and so highly to revere his memory, that it is hardly deemed equal to what his conduct peremptorily claimed from his surviving countrymen. The Right Honourable Horatio Viscount Nelson, and Duke of Bronte, was a most active, brave, and able officer. He defeated the French fleet in Aboukir Bay, August 1, 1798, and took eight sail of the line; for which he was raised to the peerage. He was second in command at the battle of Copenhagen, where he displayed great courage and conduct; for which he was raised to the dignity of viscount. He completely defeated the combined fleet of France and Spain, off Cape Trafalgar, October 21, 1805, in which he lost his life.
In the advices some of our admirals have transmitted to the Board of Admiralty and others, there is a brevity, which Shakespeare says is the soul of wit; there is, however, a brevity, which is so admirable a model of epistolary writing, that I cannot resist transcribing one or two of them; premising, that as they are taken from memory, they may not do justice to the originals.
The first is from Sir George Rodney to the Governor of Barbadoes, and is as follows:
“Dear General,
“The battle is fought, — the day is ours, — the English flag is victorious; — we have taken the French admiral, with nine other ships, and sunk one. “G. B. R.”
The second letter was, I think, transmitted to the Admiralty.
“We have met the French fleet, and taken, sunk, or destroyed, as per margin.”
The last I shall subjoin is from a foreigner, but seems mixed up with a large portion of British spirit . It was written to Admiral Benbow, who died in October 1702, at Jamaica, of the wounds he received in an engagement with M. du Casse, in the West Indies, off the high land of St. Martha, in the same year.
Soon after Admiral Benbow’s return to Jamaica, he received a letter from M. du Casse, of which the following is a translation:
“Carthagena, August 1702.
“Sir,
“I had little hopes on Monday last but to have supped in your cabin; yet it pleased God to order otherwise: I am thankful for it. As for those cowardly captains who deserted you, hang them up; for, by G — d, they deserve it.
“Du Casse.”
The next print is a correct interior view of THE BOARD ROOM OF THE ADMIRALTY, with its appropriate decorations of globes, books, maps, & c. The lords commissioners are represented as sitting at the table, and may be naturally supposed engaged in some business relative to the naval interest of Great Britain: and considered in that point of view, may be fairly said to be transacting a business of more real importance to this country, than any other subject that could be debated; and if taken in all its nautical relations, the acknowledged preeminence of our navy, and the various appertaining et-ceteras, it is also a matter of infinite importance to all Europe.
After what has been said, it does not seem necessary to make any remarks on the extent of the building; but, as it has been before remarked, that the noble lords were engaged in transactions of more importance than attending to the symmetry and proportion of their house, which was probably left to the architect, who might in many cases leave it to the management of his foreman, it may afford some amusement to our readers, to recite a few sportive sallies of the wits of the time on the brick and mortar of the principal front.
They said, and truly said, that it is a contemptible piece of architecture. Of the portico of this building, composed of four Ionic columns, with a pediment of stone, a story is told, that, from the strange disproportion of the shafts, is highly probable. The architect, Shipley, had made them of a proper length, when it was found that the pediment of one of his shafts had blocked up the window of one of the principal apartments; and he endeavoured to remedy the error, by carrying his columns to the roof of the building: and in truth, in its present state, one is compelled to admit the truth of what was remarked by the late George Selwyn, that though the columns are certainly neither of the Doric, Ionic, or Corinthian order, they would be admirable models to take for a new one, which might be denominated the clis, or disproportioned order; “or,” added he, “if we chose to give it immortality, baptize it with an appropriate title, and name it the Robinsonian order, in honour of Sir Thomas Robinson.”
The figure of Sir Thomas Robinson must be in the recollection of many of our readers; — so long, so lank, so lean, so bony, that he struck every one who saw him, as distinct from all other men, and out of all manner of proportion. When the late Lord Chesterfield was confined to his room by an illness, of which he felt a consciousness that he should never recover, a friend, who visited him in the character of one of Job’s comforters, gravely said, he was sorry to tell his lordship, that every body agreed in thinking he was dying, and that he was dying by inches. “Am I?” said the old peer, “am I indeed? why then I rejoice from the bottom of my soul, that I am not near so tall as Sir Thomas Robinson.”
To return to the building: certain it is that such columns never were seen either in Greece, or Rome, or any other country.
The screen in the front, which was designed and erected by Adams, is so far from being liable to any part of this censure, that it forms a striking contrast, and would, if it were possible, shew in a more glaring light the gross absurdities of the principal front of the building.
On the inside of the Admiralty are two telegraphs, which may be seen by a proper application to the porter, or person who works, the machine.
Susana's Parlour 