From Westminster To London Bridge.

now I must have been led away past the Boar ' s Head in Eastcheap , Avhich was situate a little to the left of New Fish-street : all is changed : I no longer hear the sullen roar of the water through the narrow arches of the old bridge ; the gabled houses are all swept away : I see little else besides great glass shops , I declare ; and what costly commodities are offered for sale hi them ! gold and jewels ,

silks and other matters of price , are within the hand-reach of the multitude . I see men ancl women walking unattended , Avith chains of gold , watches , and other articles of value , temptingly displayed ; and I am told that millions' worth of property—coin , and securities of several kinds—are daily moved through London streets ; and , notwithstanding , I see no one wearing arms of defence ! This makes me think that the old watch might hardly have been sufficient in these strange times .

Mmghng with the crowd are persons of various nations , in the peculiar costumes of their countries . Some of these dresses are quite new to me , notwithstanding they pass to and fro without exciting much notice . Not so in my OAvn case ; for I hear some , in hurriedly passing , say that I would be much better stuck up in Westminster Abbey instead of gaping about here and blocking up the thoroughfare .

Others divert themselves with several Aritticisms , the meaning of which does not appear very clear to me ; but often I hear reference made to one Guy Fawkes . Some suggest that the gentleman must have strayed from Madame Tussaud ' s , and had better be taken back there . The officers to whom I have referred begin to view me with threatening and suspicious looks ;

¦ and my position becomes each minute more unpleasant , when 1 am accosted by a person of sage appearance , who , kindly withdrawing mo from the general notice , reminds me that , in so vast a city—which has become the wonder of the world tor its trade , wealth , and population , since my date ¦ of about 300 years ago—I must expect to find many alterations . He points out to me that the new London-bridge had been built- to the west of the old one , which caused the

necessity of making new approaches : but even if this had not been so , the Great Fire of 1666 burnt here with the greatest fierceness , and left not a scrap of the houses of Queen Elizabeth ' s reign in existence ; so that I could not expect refection at the hostelry I was asking for . In his company I wander along King William-street , being told that this important thoroughfare is not so named after

William the Conqueror or William Rufus , but after a fourth king of that name , who has not been long dead , and the effigy of which monarch stands on a block of stone , looking towards the bridge . Eastward is a monument which has been raised to commemorate the breaking out of the fire at this point . On comparing notes with my new companion , we agree that the Blue Boar must have been at about a

stone ' s throw to the south-east of this monument , as is known by the circumstance that , after the great conflagration , the stone sign of the old tavern was found amongst the ruins . On the rebuilding of the , same on the spot mentioned , this stone was placed in the front ; ancl , on the pulling down of the tavern for the alterations in connection Avith the bridge , it was taken to the library of the Guildhall , where it still remains .

Great was the rejoicing , and splendid ancl pompous was the display , when Queen Elizabeth declared Gresham ' s Royal Exchange to have been opened . Since then two great buildings have been destroyed by fire ; ancl , as I stand now , looking at the third building , which is still surmounted by the grasshopper crest of the first founder , I am impressed with the vastly increased proportions , and the much more noble

aspect , of the present Exchange , in . comparison with that of the first structure ; ancl this is the case with the chief of all the public and private buildings . The long range of premises devoted to banking is another instance of the progress of commerce . In the portico of this building I hear one of the most wonderful noises of the city ; the roaring of the in stormdashing against the

sea , a great , rocks , is not so loud . In " my time , the most of the banking business was carried on by the goldsmiths , in premises in Lombard-street , and parts close by , which made but little display . From the Mansion House , and from places surrounding ,

From Westminster To London Bridge.

the crowding of carriages is wonderful to behold . Some are marked to go to Hammersmith , to Peckham , ancl towns in other parts of Surrey , at a considerable distance off ; others run to Blackwall , Mile-end , Stoke Newington , Holloway , Islington , Kentish Town , Camden Town , Kensington ; ancl all these towns and villages , as I learn , though I can scarcely credit it , now form portions of the one

metropolis . It appears that in the London streets there are noiv about 20 , 000 public carriages plying for hire . In my clays might be seen gay cavalcades on horseback ; but carriages for the purpose of carrying even' the nobility , far less carriages for the mobility , were rarely to be seen ; and such , indeed , I must admit was the ill condition of the pavementeven in

, Cheapside and other leading thoroughfares , that this now to me is not much a matter of surprise when I observe the smoothness of these nineteenth century pavements . The houses , many of them of timber , the roofs steeply pitched , the small shops with open windows , the fountain-., the cross , where the pillory was often fixed , are all gone , and not very agreeable houses line this important street .

Even the famous Cathedral of St . Paul , as I before suspected , is amongst the matters of the past ; the old structure , however , has been most worthily replaced . Since the early part of the sixth century , and probably before that period , there has been a church on this site ; at that early date the troubled condition of the country prevented the carrying out of decorationbut this deficiency was to some extent

; supplied by the son of King Offa , Erkenwald , the fourth bishop from Mellitus ; this pi - elate was not content to expend large sums from his private means , but procured various privileges for the Pope and the kings of England . Others soon followed in his path ; and among them may be mentioned Kenred , King of the Mercians ; Edgar , Athelstane , and Canute .

Upon the accession of William I . the church suffered much , but obtained soon after a charter from the king , conferring upon it lands in perpetuity . During this reign it became a prey to fire , and a new one was erected in its place , partly by the Bishop Maurice , at the end of the eleventh century , almost at the same period that a similar building was at Westminster . Tear after year , during the

reign of Henry III ., neAv improvements were continually made to old St . Paul ' s . In 1221 , a steeple remarkable for its great height , and for the beauty of its architectural proportions , was erected ; ancl again , in 1240 , a neiv choir was added , by the influence of Bishop Roger . Large sums of money Avere obtained for these purposes by the granting of indul . A new portion was also added to the east

gences , including the subterranean church of St . Faith , which was begun by Bishop Fulca Basset in 1256 . From that time it gradually increased in beauty and magnificence . Adornment , then considered so necessary in a church , was carried to the height of extravagance ; and gold and silver decorations sparkled in the church . Massive basins of gold , candlestickssilver crossesgold and other

orna-, , cups , many ments of the most costly workmanship , inlaid Avith precious stones , with pictures and statues , were treasured in St . Paul ' s ; which , on festival days , presented an appearance of indescribable splendour . Although within my recollection those costly matters had been removed , the interior of St . Paul ' s presented a most imposing appearance . Au apparently endless

perspective of lofty arches met the eye , which seemed to be lost in the distance in a haze of many-coloured light . For nearly 700 ft . we could trace the range unbroken , from the pavement below to the arched roof . The splendid vista was terminated by a rose window of large size , but Avhich in the distance looked no bigger than the flower from which it borrowed its name . Everything I now see is changed . — Builder .

The Exhibition Of 1862.

THE EXHIBITION OF 1862 .

( From the , Builder . ) Notwithstanding the chronic disorder with which the building trades have been unfortunately so long afflicted , there has been no hitch in the great work whicli Messrs . Kelk and Lucas are , with untiring energy , pushing forwards