As to the etymology of the word London, antiquaries are not agreed; Geffrey of Monmouth derives it from Caer-Lud, or Lud's-town: Erasmus, from Lindum, a city of Rhodes: Vitus, from Lugdu, a Celtic prince, Lugdon: Selden, from Llan-Dyn, the Temple of Diana; this conjecture is founded upon the great number of boars' tusks (found in the neighbourhood of St. Paul's cathedral), horns of oxen, and stags, whose bodies were proper sacrifices to that deity. Somner derives it from Llawn, Plenus, and Dyn, Homo, a populous place, which he imagines London always to have been, which I take to be (continues Maitland) an appellation very unsuitable with the low condition this city has been many times reduced to; especially when the whole of its inhabitants were destroyed by Boadicea. Camden derives it from Lhong and Dinas; Lhong, signifying a ship, and Dinas, a town, that is, ship-town, or a city of ships. The first author who speaks of London (Londinium) as a city, is Cornelius Tacitus, who also calls it Augusta. Ammianus Marcellinus mentions an ancient place once called Londinium, but then Augusta; and again refers to it under the name of Augusta Trinobantum. There is a very curious transcript in the Tower of an ancient document relative to the antiquity of London, presented to Henry VI. in the seventh year of his reign (1427), when taken out of the city archives. A brief translation of this old manuscript is as follows:-Among the noble and famed cities of the world, that of London, the only seat of the realm of England, is the chief; the fame of which is known far and near. It is remarkable for wholesome air; but, above all, for the Christian religion. Its liberties and ancient foundation being, according to records, older than Rome; built by Brute after the manner of Troy, long before the time of Romulus and Remus; and to this day the mauners, customs, liberties, and rights of Troy are universally enjoyed!"

PAVING OF LONDON.

London was unpaved till 1417; when Henry IV., convinced that Holborn was deep and dangerous, ordered two ships to be laden with stones, at his own expense, each 20 tons in burden, to repair it.

LONDON BRIDGE.

Stow, in his Survey of London, says, a ferry being kept in the place where now the bridge is built, at length the ferryman and his wife deceasing, left the said ferry to their daughter Mary, which, with the goods left her by her parents, as also with profits arising from said ferry, built a House of Sisters, in the place where now standeth the east part of St. Mary Over'ier's Church,* above the quire where she (Mary) was buried; into which house she gave * A corruption of St. Mary, over the river.

the profits and oversight of the ferry. But afterwards, the said House of Sisters being converted into a College of Priests, the priests built the bridge of timber, as all other great bridges of the land were, and from time to time kept the same in reparations; till at length, considering the great charges of repairing the same, there was, by aid of citizens and others, a bridge built with arches of stone. Now, touching the foundation of the stone bridge, it followeth thus: About the year 1176, the stone bridge over the river Thames, at London, was begun to be founded by Peter of Colechurch* near unto the bridge of timber, but somewhat more towards the west; for I read that Botolph Wharf was, in the Conqueror's time, at the head of London Bridge. The king assisted this work, a cardinal then being legate here; and Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, gave 1000 marks towards the foundation. The course of the river for the time, was turned another way about, by a trench cast for that purpose, beginning, as it is supposed, east about Rotherhithe, and ending in the west about Patricksey, now termed Battersea. This work, to wit, the arches, chapel, and stone bridge, having been thirty-three years in building, was, in the year 1209, finished by the worthy merchants of London,-Serle Mercer, William Almaine, and Benedict Botewright, principal masters of the works; for Peter of Colechurch deceased four years before it was completed. The present bridge is 928 feet long, and was built from the designs of John Rennie, a native of Scotland, and of his sons John and George. The first stone was laid June 15, 1825, and the bridge publicly opened by William IV., 1831. It is built of granite, and is said to have cost, including the new approaches, near two millions of money. The lamps are made from cannon taken in the Peninsular war. It is the last bridge over the Thames, or the one nearest the sea.

THE THAMES.

"Majestic river! fraught with riches

From ev'ry shore. The Indus and the Ganges,
With other mighty streams renown'd,

Hail thee as their chief;

Yield thee the produce of their clime,

And give thy nation homage."

This river, so famed in the commercial world, derives its name from a compound of Thame and Isis, and which in process of time came under the familiar denomination of Thames. The junction was formed a little above Oxford, but the Isis now is lost in the compound term, as the river is denominated the Thames even to its very source. The banks of the Thames have long been famed for the beauty of verdure, and taste with which * Chaplain of the church of St. Mary Colechurch, in the Poultry.

they are adorned. They are studded with neat cottages, or elegant villas crown the gentle heights; the lawns come sweeping down like carpets of green velvet to the edge of its soft-flowing waters, and the grace of the scenery improves until we are borne into the full bosom of its beauty-the village of Richmond, or, as it was anciently called, Sheen.* Below London Bridge we have Greenwich, and other beautiful scenery of the county of Kent. The opposite bank on the Essex side is flat, and is famed for nothing but Tilbury Fort, where Elizabeth, when the Spanish Armada threatened this country, reviewed her troops who were collected to repel the invaders.

THE NEW RIVER.

During the reigns of queen Elizabeth and James I., acts of parliament were obtained for the better supplying of the metropolis with water: but the enterprise seemed too great for any individual, or even for the city collectively, to venture upon, until Mr. Hugh Middleton, a native of Denbigh, and goldsmith of London, offered to begin the work. The Court of Common Council accepted his offer; and having vested him with ample powers, this gentleman, with a spirit equal to the importance of the undertaking, at his own risk and charge began the work. He had not proceeded far, when innumerable and unforeseen difficulties presented themselves. The art of civil engineering was then little understood in this country, and he experienced many obstructions from the occupiers and proprietors of the lands through which he was under the necessity of conducting this

stream.

The distance of the springs of Amwell and Chadwell, whence the water was to be brought, is twenty miles from London; but it was found necessary, in order to avoid the eminences and valleys in the way, to make it run a course of more than thirtyeight miles. "The depth of the trench," says Stow, "in some places, descended full thirty feet, if not more; whereas, in other places, it required as sprightful arte againe to mount it over a valley, in a trough betweene a couple of hills, and the trough all the while borne up by wooden arches, some of them fixed in the ground very deepe, and rising in height above twenty-three foot." The industrious projector soon found himself so harassed and impeded by interested persons in Middlesex and Hertfordshire, that he was obliged to solicit a prolongation of the time to accomplish his undertaking. This the city granted, but they refused to interest themselves in this great and useful work, although Mr. Middleton was quite impoverished by it. He then applied, with more success, to the king himself; who, upon a moiety of the concern being made over to him, agreed to pay

*See Richmond.

half the expense of the work already incurred, as well as of the future. It now went on without interruption, and was finished according to Mr. Middleton's original agreement with the city; when, on the 29th of September, 1613, the water was let into the bason, now called the New River Head, which was prepared for its reception. By an exact admeasurement of the course of the New River, taken in 1723, it appeared to be nearly thirty-nine miles in length. This great undertaking cost half a million of money, and was the ruin of its first projector; who parted with his interest in it to a Company called the New River Company, in whose hands it still remains, reserving to himself and his heirs for ever an annuity of £100 per annum. This annuity ceased to be claimed about the year 1715.

The property of the New River is divided into seventy-two shares; for the first nineteen years after the finishing of the work, the annual profit upon each share scarcely amounted to twelve shillings. A share is now considered to be worth £11,500, and they have been sold as high as £14,000.

WATER PIPES,

Water was first conveyed to London by leaden pipes, 21 Henry III., 1237. It took near fifty years to complete it; the whole being finished, and Cheapside Conduit erected only in 1285. An engine erected at Broken Wharf, to convey water by leaden pipes, 1594. The New River brought to London from Amwell, in Hertfordshire, by Sir Hugh Middleton, in 1613. The city supplied with its water, by conveyances of wooden pipes in the streets, and small leaden ones to the houses, and the New River Company incorporated, in 1620. So late as queen Anne's time, there were water-carriers at Aldgate-pump.

BRIDGE HOUSE ESTATES.

"Towards the support and repairs of London Bridge, which was built, as before stated, in the reign of Henry II., king John, his son, gave divers parcels of ground, in London and its vicinity, to build upon, the profits whereof were to be continually employed as above stated. Hence this property has been called the Bridge Estates, or Bridge House Estates."-Maitland's London.

ROYAL EXCHANGE.

The first Royal Exchange was founded by Sir Thomas Gresham. The first stone was laid June 7, 1566, and the building opened by Queen Elizabeth in person, January 23, 1570. This Exchange was destroyed in the great fire of 1666. Pepys describes its appearance as a sad sight, nothing standing there of all the statues

The second

and pillars, but Sir Thomas Gresham in the corner. Exchange was built by Edward Jarman or Jerman, one of the City Surveyors. It is said to have cost £58,962, and was destroyed by fire January 10, 1838. The statue of Sir Thomas Gresham again escaped uninjured. The present building was built from designs of William Tite, and opened by Her Majesty in person October 28, 1844. The pediment was made by R. Westmacott R.A. (the younger), the marble statue of Her Majesty in the quadrangle by Lough; and the statues of Sir Thomas Gresham, Sir Hugh Middleton, and Queen Elizabeth, by Messrs Joseph, Carew, and Watson. It is said to have cost £180,000.

STATUES, ROYAL EXCHANGE.

As the origin of the statues in the Royal Exchange may not be generally known, the original precept issued by the Court of Aldermen for the erection of the one to Charles II. is here introduced, and which also alludes to the origin of the other statues therein placed.

SMITH, MAYOR.

Martis Vndecimo Die Novembr' 1684, Annoque Regni Regis CAROLI Secundi, Angl', &c., Tricessimo Sexto.

Whereas, the statue of king CHARLES the First (of blessed memory) is already set up in the Royal Exchange, and the Company of Grocers have undertaken to set up the statue of his present MAJESTY, and the Company of Cloth workers that of king JAMES, and the Companies of Mercers and Fishmongers the statues of queen MARY and queen ELIZABETH, and the Company of Drapers that of EDWARD the Sixth, this court doth recommend it to the several companies of this city hereafter named, viz., the Companies of Goldsmiths, Skinners, Merchant Tailors, Haberdashers, Salters, Ironmongers, Vintners, Dyers, Brewers, Leathersellers, Pewterers, Barber-Chirurgeons, Cutlers, Bakers, Wax Chandlers, Tallow Chandlers, Armourers, Girdlers, Butchers, Sadlers, to raise money by contributions, or otherwise, for setting up the statues of the rest of the kings of England (each company one), beginning at the CONQUEROR, as the same were there set up before the Great Fire. And for the better order of their proceeding herein, the master and wardens, or some members of the said respective companies, are desired within some convenient time to appear before this court, and receive the further directions of this court therein.

And in regard of the inability of the Chamber of London to advance monies for the carrying on and finishing the Conduit, begun to be set up with His MAJESTIES approbation, at the upper end of Cheapside, it is earnestly recommended from this Court to all the rest of the Companies of this City (other than those before named), to raise moneys likewise by contributions, or