The birth-place of Pope is said, in Spence's "Anecdotes of Books and Men," to have been in Lombard Street, "at the house which is now Mr. Morgan's an apothecary." It has been to the editor of this work a matter of no small difficulty to discover the exact house: the name of Mr. Morgan, the apothecary, has long since been forgotten, and there was no clue by which the house might be discovered. The poet's biographers are not precise upon the subject; some mention merely that he was born in London: others say in Lombard Street; and others again, that he was born in the Strand, where his father kept a linen-draper's shop.

Various Roman antiquities have been found in Lombard Street. In the autumn of 1785, during the excavation of the ground for the formation of a new sewer, there were found a great quantity of coins, fragments of earthenware, tesselated and other pavements, urns, bottles, keys, &c.; a full description of which is to be found in the eighth volume of the "Archæologia." The coins were of various descriptions-gold, silver, and brass. Among them were beautiful gold coins of Galba, à Nero, and an Antoninus Pius, and a silver one of Alexander Severus. The others were brass ones of Claudius Vespasian, Diocletian, Gallienus, Antonia, Constantinus, and Tetricus; nearly 300 coins of the two last emperors, of very rude workmanship, were found together on one spot at the end of St. Nicholas Lane. The coins were all found at a depth of from nine to sixteen feet. In the more recent depositions of soils above them, some Nuremberg counters, coins of Elizabeth, and other later monies, were found; but nothing that seemed to belong to the Saxon period, either with these or the Roman remains.

In this street, toward Birchin Lane, as we learn from Stow's Survey," was the house of William de la Pole, the founder of that great but unfortunate family. He lived in the reign of Edward III., and held the office of king's merchant; the same that was afterwards held by Whittington, and similar to that of queen's factor, held by Sir Thomas Gresham. "This office," says Pennant, seems to have given the lucrative privilege of supplying the king with various sorts of merchandize, and also with money." Merchants did not lend money to kings without taking great interest, one way or another, either in privileges or in cash, and very often in both, and never without security. Jewels-even the crown itself-were sometimes pawned to the monied men of Lombard Street by our early monarchs.

All Hallows' Church, Lombard Street, contains nothing.

remarkable. Opposite to it is White Hart Court, in which there is one of the most celebrated of the Quaker meeting-houses in London, and which acquires additional interest from the fact, that the great Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, used to frequent it, and there deliver his religious sentiments.

Leaving Lombard Street, together with the Bank, Cornhill, the ruins of the Royal Exchange, and all this district of London to the left, we follow the course of the handsome new approach to the bridge, called King William Street. King William Street is formed of part of Lombard Street, and cuts through several of the little lanes and narrow alleys of that ancient thoroughfare; among others, Abchurch Lane, St. Swithin's Lane, and Crooked Lane. Abchurch Lane is mentioned by Pope as the residence of a noted quack of his day-John Moore, compounder of the worm-powder.

In Swithin's Lane stood Fortington Inn, the house of the prior of Fortington, in Suffolk. It was the house of the Veres, Earls of Oxford, in 1598, and was called Oxford Place. "Adjacent to the garden," says Stow, "stood two faire houses,"the one inhabited formerly by the notorious Empson, the other by the as notorious Dudley, the instruments of the grinding rapacity of Henry VII., and whose trial and execution were among the first acts of Henry VIII. after his accession. These neighbours and comrogues had a door of communication from one garden to the other, where they often met in private conference. Dudley was tried in the Guildhall of London, and sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. Empson was tried at Northampton, but afterwards brought to the Tower, where Dudley lay, to await his execution. The sentence was carried into effect on them both, on Tower Hill. About the same time great numbers of common informers, or common questmongers, as they were called, who had been the instruments of Empson and Dudley, were apprehended. Some were imprisoned, and others," says Stow, "rode about the city with their faces to their horses' tails and papers on their heads, and were set on the pillory on Cornhill, and after brought again to Newgate, where they died for very shame. Baptist Grimald, the most cruel wretch of them all," adds our author, "went to Westminster, and there registered himself a sanctuary man."

Crooked Lane has been almost demolished for the approaches to the new bridge, and Eastcheap-world-renowned Eastcheaphas also been entrenched upon. A correspondent of the "Year Book," who writes under date of June 20th, 1831, gives an

account of several Romain coins that were found while the alterations were in progress. "On the site of Crooked Lane," he says, "about ten yards south-east of the spot on which the parsonage-house stood, was found a quantity of Roman pavement of the rudest description; about seven yards south of the east end of St. Michael's church, a large brass coin of Nerva (sestertius), very much corroded; under the east end of the church, two coins in sound brass, one of Nero, the other of Vespasian, and both in tolerable preservation. On the site of the houses just pulled down on the north side of Eastcheap, were found two large brass coins much corroded. One of these bore the head of Domitian, but the legend was obliterated; the impres sion of the other was totally destroyed. On the south side of Eastcheap were found a small Roman lamp of earthenware, a copper ring of rude workmanship, and a dish of grey earth. Two small lachrymatories were also dug up on the side of Crooked Lane, with numerous fragments of Roman pottery and glass, especially of the fine Samian ware, but only two or three specimens of the latter were found entire."

The church of St. Michael's, Crooked Lane, was demolished to make room for the new street. On Sunday, the 20th March, 1831, the congregation assembled in the church to hear divine service for the last time, when an alarming scene occurred. A sermon was to have been preached for the benefit of Bridge, Candlewick, and Dowgate ward schools. The church was crowded to excess; and the children to the number of some hundreds were present. At the conclusion of the reading of the second lesson, part of the mortar in the cornice of the ceiling over the altar, where the rector, the Rev. Dr. Dakin, was stationed, fell down. The congregation were fearful that the whole edifice was crumbling about their ears, and for several minutes the screams, the shouts, the groans, and the confusion of so many persons thronging to the door, and pressing upon each other to escape, were appalling. The rector endeavoured to allay the alarm; he assured them that no danger was to be apprehended, and going into the reading-desk, intreated them to remain in their seats, as many might be crushed to death by the pressure at the doors. He then directed them to join in singing the 93rd psalm. This had partly proceeded, and the congregation was gradually re-assembling, when a second and larger fall of mortar from the same spot renewed the panic;the crowd rushed to the door with screams of terror from the women, in a few minutes the sacred edifice was empty, happily

without the fatal consequences that have often resulted from similar panics. The sermon in aid of the schools was preached on the following Sunday in St. Magnus' Church when the preacher alluded to the circumstances of the preceding Sunday in affecting terms. He also spoke of the necessity for the demolition of the sacred edifice-a handsome church erected by Sir Christopher Wren-a necessity which had arisen for the accomplishment of a grand and noble design; and added, that it had been acted on with a due regard to the requirements of justice and dignity, towards private as well as public interestswith tender respect for amiable, kind, and christian affections, and with a view, at the same time, to provide for religious obligations as well as temporal purposes.

Of the Boar's Head in Eastcheap, how shall we presume to speak, after the eloquent remarks of those delightful essayists, Goldsmith and Washington Irving? Visions of Falstaff and Shakspeare, and Dame Quickly and Bardolph, and the "mad Prince" and Poins, and other real or imaginary persons, start up before the mental eye, at the mere mention of that famous tavern. The site is now covered with houses of the last century; but in the front of one is still preserved the memory of the sign; the Boar's Head cut in stone. In the wall of another house hard by, is a swan cut in stone, probably in old times the sign of another tavern.

CHAPTER XIII.

London Bridge-Some account of the New Bridge-The ancient bridge— Houses built on-Tradition connected with it-Gates at each end-Dreadful calamity there-Inconvenience of the ancient bridge-Grand Tournament on it-Grand displays on it in the olden time-Battle on it between Jack Cade's rioters and the citizens-Attacked by ruffians-Attack on it by the Bastard of Falconbridge-Heads of great victims exhibited thereHall's account of the exhibition of Bishop Fisher's head-Hentzner's account of the number of these heads-Romantic story-Hans Holbein, a resident here-Fishmonger's Hall described-The old Hall-Short account of this Company.

LEAVING these reminiscences of the past, we go through the crowded thoroughfare to speak of the present; of the new bridge, so great a convenience, and so splendid an ornament to the city of London. The old bridge being in a miserable

condition, and an impediment, moreover, to the navigation of the river, a select committee of the House of Commons strongly advised the construction of a new bridge, without delay. The corporation of London, awakened to the urgent necessity of the undertaking, offered about the middle of the following year, premiums of £250, £150, and £100, for the three best designs for the new bridge. About a hundred plans were sent in, and the premiums adjudged; but neither of them being considered suitable, a plan of the late Sir John Rennie was ultimately adopted. The act for the erection of the bridge, and the construction of proper approaches on both sides of the river, received the royal assent on the 4th of July, 1823, and the site of the new bridge was fixed about thirty-four yards westward of the old one, which latter was to remain open until the completion of its successor. The first pile of the coffer-dam, for laying the foundation of the first pier, was driven on the Southwark side, on the 15th March, 1824; and the first stone was laid with great ceremony on the 15th of June, 1825, by Alderman Garrett, the lord mayor, in the presence of the Duke of York, and a vast assemblage of noble and distinguished persons. The House of Commons voted, in 1823, the sum of £150,000, and also an extra tax of sixpence per ton on all coals entering the port of London, which, with the revenues of the Bridge House estates, amounting in 1820 to upwards of £25,000, would, it was thought, be sufficient for the purpose. In about six years the bridge was completed, and was opened in state on the 1st of August, 1831, by King William IV.

It does not appear that there was any bridge over the Thames at London in the time of the Romans; nor is it exactly known when a bridge was first erected. Mention is made of one as existing at the time of the invasion by Sweyn, the father of Canute, and after this period, notices of a bridge between London and Southwark are continually occurring. There is a legend that the bridge was built by Mary Overy, the daughter of the ferryman who plied at this passage in the East Saxon times; aud that she also erected the church of St. Mary Overy, which was named after her. There is mention of this legend by Stow and other writers. There is also a scarce tract of thirty pages, entitled "The True History of the Life and Sudden Death of old John Overy, the Rich Ferryman of London, showing how he lost his life by his own covetousness; and of his daughter Mary, who caused the church of St. Mary