Leeds is pleasantly situated on the summit and sides of an eminence, rising gradually from the north bank of the river Aire, over which are three bridges; one of freestone, consisting of five arches; another, also of stone, called Wellington Bridge, consisting of one arch, built in 1817, from a design by Rennie; and a suspension bridge, situated to the east of the latter. The streets are well paved, and lighted with gas. The houses are in general built of brick, and roofed with slate, and in various parts of the town are some elegant mansions, and handsome ranges of modern buildings. have been the first in that part of the kingdom that | tion Libraries, a Mechanics' Institution, a Music Hall, was built of brick, and, from the colour of that and Baths. The Cavalry Barracks, near the North material, called Red Hall. Road, occupy eleven acres of ground. The Corn Exchange, in Briggate Street, is a handsome stone building, having in the front a statue of Queen Anne. The government of the town is vested in a mayor, recorder, twelve aldermen, and twenty-four common council men. A relic of feudal servitude, subsists in the custom which obliges all the inhabitants of Leeds, except those whose houses stand within the manor of Whitkirk, (formerly belonging to the Knights Templars,) to have their corn ground at the King's Mills, which are held under a lease from the Crown. The Court House, erected in 1813, is an elegant stone edifice, behind which is the town To the extent and variety of the manufactures prison. Leeds returns two members to parliament, carried on in this town and its neighbourhood, par- and gives the title of Duke to the Osborne family. ticularly the manufacture of woollen cloth, which The parish church of Leeds, dedicated to St. Peter, has, within the last few years, been brought to a is an ancient cruciform structure, with a square very high state of perfection, may, in a great degree, embattled tower. Thoresby, the author of the Hisbe attributed the prosperity of the West Riding of tory of Leeds, and a native of the town, is interred the county. Formerly, only the coarser kinds of in it, but there is no monument to his memory. The cloth were made here; but since the introduction of church on Quarry Hill, dedicated to St. Mary, and machinery, and more especially under the improve- containing one thousand two hundred and seven ments made in the manufacture by Mr. Hirst, a sittings, of which eight hundred and one are free, native of this town, the Yorkshire cloths, which were was erected in 1824, by a grant from the Parliamenalways regarded as inferior, have been made to equal, tary Commissioners: it is a handsome edifice in the if not to surpass, those of the Western Counties of later style of English architecture. Christ church England. Many extensive factories have been esta- in Meadow Lane, was also erected by a grant from blished, in some of which the whole process, from the same funds, in 1824; and St. Mark's church the first breaking of the wool to the completion of at Woodhouse, in 1825. There are several other the cloth for the consumer, is performed by machi-churches, and numerous places of worship for the nery worked by steam. The principal branches of manufacture at present are superfine broad and coarse narrow cloths, ladies' pelisse cloth and shawls, stuffs of various kinds, Scotch camblets, blankets, and carpets. There are also establishments for spinning flax, and manufacturing worsted and cotton goods; and in the immediate vicinity are manufac-in Leeds, a National School, a Lancasterian School, a tories for crown and flint glass, an extensive pottery, several iron foundries, and a manufactory for steamengines. In the parish is dug clay used in making fire-proof bricks, as well as another kind of which tobacco-pipes are made. The neighbourhood abounds with coal-mines, and on the banks of the Aire are numerous mills for grinding corn, rape-seed, dyewood, and for fulling cloth. Leeds also carries on an extensive trade in tobacco. The Cloth Halls are spacious buildings for the sale of cloth in an unfinished state: they occupy quadrangular areas divided into rows, on each side of which, are stands for the manufacturers; the hall for dyed cloths, contains one thousand and eight hundred of these stands; and that for white cloths, about the same number: the former was erected in 1758, and the latter, in 1775. The market is announced by the ringing of a bell, and in the course of an hour, for which it continues open, purchases to the amount of many thousand pounds, are effected with the utmost regularity, and in perfect silence, by the merchants who attend them, and under whose directions, or by persons accustomed to that business, the cloths are dressed and finished for the use of the consumer. Amongst the principal public buildings of Leeds, are the Commercial Buildings, a handsome edifice of stone, with a noble circular portico, erected in 1826. The Literary and Philosophical Society, established in 1820, has a handsome hall in the Grecian style, built by Mr. Chantrell. The Northern Society for the encouragement of the Fine Arts has also a handsome gallery; and a Horticultural Society holds its meeting in the town. There are several Subscrip dissenters. The Free Grammar School was originally founded in 1552, by William Sheafield, who endowed it with several portions of land, on condition that the inhabitants should erect a school-house. It has now, an income of more than 16007. annually. There are, also, Charity School, and numerous Sunday Schools; as well as several hospitals and alms-houses. In the neighbourhood are several chalybeate and other mineral springs: that of Holbeck, is like the sulphureous water of Harrowgate, and so much esteemed, that it is daily brought to Leeds for sale. On the declivity of Quarry Hill are traces of a Roman camp, and in Briggate Street are some remains of the Chantry of St. Mary Magdalene, founded in 1470. Dr. Berkenhout, author of several works on chemistry, and B. Wilson the landscape painter, were natives of this town. NEW DYE.-There is a small insect peculiar to the RussoArmenian provinces, on the eastern side of the Caucasus, from which a Greek Archimandrite has at last succeeded in extracting a dye, which imparts a brilliant carmine to silk, woollen, and cotton substances, and resists the application of the most powerful acids.-St. Petersburgh Journal. HENRY the Eighth caused to be painted, the procession and interview with Francis the First, between Ardres and Guînes. This painting was duly transferred as an inheritance to succeeding princes, till the Commonwealth, when the Parliament proposed to sell it to the King of France. The Earl of Pembroke being apprized of it, and resolved that so great a treasure of art and history should not leave the country, secretly cut out the head of Henry the Eighth, before the arrangements were completed, and the French ambassador, finding the picture mutilated, refused to ratify the bargain. After the Restoration, the Earl gave the head, (which he had carefully preserved,) to Charles the Second, who caused it to be replaced; and so skilfully was it done, that the blemish can scarcely be discovered, except by viewing the picture in a side light. Life of Henry VIII. FAMILIAR ILLUSTRATIONS OF NATURAL PHENOMENA. No. XI. LIGHTNING. 'Tis listening fear and dumb amazement all, Appears far south, eruptive through the cloud.-THOMSON. THERE are few circumstances in nature more awful than a thunder-storm. The gradual lowering of the sultry sky, the gloomy haze which covers the face of the earth, the dread which seizes upon the animal creation, the beast hastening to his covert, the bird to his roost, and the bee to his hive, all portend the approaching convulsion. Then comes the low murmur of the distant thunder; the sudden, interrupted gusts of wind; and the large heavy drops of rain, falling like lumps of molten lead. And speedily comes on the tempest in its full fury: the lightning bursts forth out of the clouds, envelops the whole heaven in a sheet of flame, runs along the ground, levels the tallest oaks and the stateliest buildings with the earth, and scatters desolation along its track. A pious mind will have learned to trace the finger of God even in these scenes of destruction. A firm believer knows, that the God of all the earth will do right; and is convinced, that whatever may appear opposed to the benevolence of God, is but a mercy in a less obvious form. He knows, that the tumult of the storm, and the violence of the hurricane, are parts of the great system of nature, which appear to be destructive, only because they are regarded without reference to the general system: that an Eye, which could take in, at once, the whole field of nature, could perceive that these occasional, though violent and terrible interruptions, are necessary to the wellbeing of the whole. Even a common observer can scarcely have avoided noticing, how fresh and fragrant every thing is, after a thunder-storm. The air appears more pure; the earth gives forth a delightful odour; and the coolness of the atmosphere diffuses a buoyancy of spirit, and the elasticity of renovated vigour over the whole animal frame. But some may, perhaps, wish to know something more than this, respecting the great natural powers which have lately been put into action. They may wish to know, what thunder and lightning are: and that we will endeavour to explain, as shortly and clearly as we can. There are many substances, which, when rubbed, have the property of attracting or repelling light bodies, as chaff, small pieces of paper, light balls of elder-pith, and the like. A stick of sealing-wax, rubbed on cloth, is a familiar instance. But the first substance, which was discovered to possess this property, was amber. Thales, the Milesian, who lived 600 years before Christ, observed, that amber thus attracted light bodies: and the name of electricity was given to the phenomenon, from a Greek word, signifying amber. Very little attention was, however, paid to the subject for many centuries. Dr. W. Gilbert in 1600, and Mr. Boyle in 1670, pursued the study of electricity; and about the year 1745, Cunæus, a native of Leyden, discovered the means of collecting the electric fluid, in such quantities as to give a violent shock. The glass vessel, used in this experiment, was hence called the Leyden vial. Dr. Wall, and several other philosophers, observed that lightning and electricity possessed many common properties. The light which accompanied the explosion, the crackling noise made by the flame, and other pnenomena, made them suspect that lightning might be electricity in a highly powerful state. But this connexion was merely the subject of conjecture, until, in the year 1750, the celebrated Dr. Franklin suggested an experiment to determine the question. He had before observed, that pointed metallic wires drew off the electric fluid, and supposed that lightning might also be affected in the same manner. "The electric fluid," he said, “is attracted by points. We do not know whether this property be in lightning: but since they agree in all the particulars in which we can already compare them, it is not improbable that they agree likewise in this. Let this experiment be made." By timid and superstitious persons it was considered too bold an undertaking to draw lightning purposely from the clouds, and try, by actual experiment, what it was. But the previous knowledge of the properties of electricity, suggested means for preventing danger, if proper precautions were used. Some bodies, as metals, conduct electricity freely. Others, as silk, glass, and many other substances, will not conduct it. It would be requisite, therefore, to have a pointed metallic wire raised considerably above the earth, to draw the electricity from the clouds, and have the communication cut off, between the lower end of the wire and the person of the observer, by means of a silk cord, or other nonconducting substance. While Dr. Franklin was waiting for the building of a spire at Philadelphia, to which he intended to attach his wire, the experiment was successfully made at Marly La Ville, in France, in the year 1752. Lightning was actually drawn from the clouds, by means of a pointed wire, and it was proved to be really the electric fluid. Dr. Franklin himself soon after succeeded in making an experiment of the same kind by means of a kite, raised during a thunderstorm. He had afterwards, an apparatus constructed for bringing lightning into his house; and experiments were made, which fully established the fact, that electricity and lightning are the same. These experiments, however, were not without danger. A flash of lightning was found to be a very unmanageable instrument. In 1753, M. Richman, at St. Petersburgh, was making an experiment of this kind, by drawing lightning into his room, and incautiously bringing his head too near the wire, was struck dead by the flash which issued from it, like a globe of blue fire, accompanied by a dreadful explosion. Lightning is thus shown to be the passage of electricity from one body to the other. Electricity exists in two different states, which are called positive and negative: and, for general explanation, it is sufficient to observe, that two bodies similarly electrified repel each other, and two bodies differently electrified attract each other. Suppose, therefore, a large tract of country to be electrified negatively, and the upper region of the air, and a thick body of clouds to be positively electrified. The earth and the clouds would attract each other strongly and if any conducting substance passed from one to the other, the electricity would pass along it. An imperfect line of conductors is often formed by light fleecy clouds, which may be seen hanging between a thunder-cloud and the earth, and violently agitated. The air itself is a very bad conductor of electricity. But if part of the cloud approaches within a certain distance of any conducting substance, the electric fluid passes rapidly from the cloud to the earth, or from the earth to the cloud, accompanied with a brilliant flash of light, and generally with a violent noise, occasioned by the vibration communicated to the air. Phenomena of the same kind are produced when lightning passes from one cloud to another. The reverberating sound of thunder is merely the echo of one report, and is completely exemplified when a cannon is discharged among hills, as in certain stations among the lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland. The effects of lightning are sometimes very remarkable, and, indeed, unaccountable. It will melt money, or a watch, in a man's pocket, without burning his clothes or injuring his person; or a sword in the scabbard, without destroying the sheath. The knowledge of the immediate cause of lightning has led to many beneficial results. One of these is the application of conductors to buildings. If conductors are carefully constructed, and kept in good repair, there can be no doubt of their great utility. The principle upon which they act, is to draw off the lightning, which would otherwise strike a building, and to conduct it to the earth. Those who have conductors attached to their premises, should have them carefully examined from time to time; for if the communication should happen to be interrupted, by the wires being broken, or much rusted, the lightning may be drawn into the house, instead of being drawn away from it. Another caution, suggested by our knowledge of what lightning is, is to avoid taking shelter under trees, or near solitary buildings, as stacks or barns, during a thunder-storm. Even the carrying an umbrella with a metallic point is dangerous, especially in an open field. An accident happened a few years ago, which a little knowledge of the real nature of lightning, and ordinary prudence, would have prevented. A party of hay-makers were overtaken in a violent storm: and one of them took upon his pitchfork as much hay as he could lift, set it up, with the points projecting upwards, and took shelter beneath it. The storm was soon over; and the rest of his companions resumed their labours; but finding that he did not join them, they went to the place, and found him perfectly dead. The metallic points had attracted the lightning, and thus proved fatal to the man. C. DURING the American war, Captain Gregg and a brother officer, returning from hunting, were fired upon by an ambush of Indians. Both fell, and the Indians coming up, struck them on the forehead with the tomahawk, and scalped them. Captain Gregg, in describing the operation, said he felt as if molten lead was poured on his head; yet he had the hardihood to lie still, suppressing his breath, to make them suppose he was dead. When they had left him, he felt as if something cooling was applied to his burning head. In fact, it was his dog, who was licking it, the coolness of whose tongue was most grateful to his feelings. The dog, after fawning upon him, left him, and disappeared in the woods. Captain Gregg, on attempting to rise, found he was wounded in the back by a musket-shot, and severely bruised on the forehead by the stroke of the tomahawk, by which stroke he would inevitably have been killed; had not its force been broken by his hat. He crawled to his brother officer who lay dead near him, and opening his waistcoat, laid his throbbing head upon his soft warm bosom, for the sticks and stones among which he lay, were torture to him. Here he expected death to put an end to his sufferings. In the mean time, the dog speeded home to his friends, and by whining, crouching, running to and fro, and looking up in the most supplicating manner, showed that some accident had befallen his master. They followed the dog, who guided them to the scene just described, where they arrived just in time to save the life of Captain Gregg, who, under the care of a skilful surgeon, ultimately recovered. -R. B. PROVERBS. III. 23. Well BEGUN is half done. This ancient proverb is found in Horace; and there is one in Italian like it, The BEGINNING only is hard and costs dear. We often have great reluctance in setting about an appointed task, the apparent difficulty continuing to increase with delay: but once engaged in it, we proceed with pleasure until it is completed. It is the case in those "trifles which make the sum of human things.". The young scholar wants courage to set about his lesson in time; the friend, or man of business, to answer a letter, or to acquire some point of useful information. And to go higher in the application of the maxim, it tells us, that, to begin to do good leads on to continued improvement. So the Italians say, BEGIN your web, and God will supply you with thread. Akin to this, are two valuable proverbs, which chide us for indecison and needless hesitation: Procrastination is the thief of time: and, To do what's right make no delay, For life and time slide fast away. 24. BIRDS of a feather flock together. Persons of similar manners are fond of associating together; but the bad particularly: indeed, when their characters are known, they cannot easily get other com panions. Hence it is a saying,Tell me with whom thou goest, And I will tell thee what thou doest. company that brings men to the gallows. Burckhardt, Those who sleep with dogs, rise up with fleas. It is bad in his collection of Arabic proverbs, gives the following remarkable one; He who introduces himself between the onion and the peel, goes not forth without its strong smell. But on the other hand, we have in the Spanish, Associate with the GOOD, and thou shalt be esteemed one of them. 25. One BIRD in the hand is worth two in the bush; and the Italians say, Better have an egg to day, than a hen to-morrow. But this carries the idea too far. Ray quotes another, which is much better; He that leaves certainty, and sticks to chance, Shadow, advises us not to part with what we actually This adage, like the fable of the Dog and the possess, on the distant prospect of some doubtful or uncertain profit. It seems a kind of madness in any one, who has a competence, or is exercising with fair success any business or profession, to hazard all in pursuit of some new and involve him in ruin. And yet how many are the victims scheme, which, however promising in appearance, may fail, of this. How many instances in our own country, do the records of the year 1825 supply! The proverb also alludes to a custom, common, we are told, among the ancients, and which is not now wholly lost, of buying on speculation the produce of an orchard, while the trees were only in blossom, or of a field of corn, as soon as the seed was in the ground. This kind of gam bling was carried so far, that as many fish as might happen to be taken at one cast of the net, or all the game that should be taken in one day's hunting, were sometimes purchased in this way. "Lord Bacon being in York-house Garden, looking on fishers as they were throwing their net, asked them, What they would take for their draught; they answered, so much. His lordship would not agree to this. So they drew up their net, and in it were only two or three little fishes. Lord Bacon then told them, it had been better for them to have taken his offer. They replied, they hoped to have had a better draught; But,' said his lordship, Hope is a good breakfast, but a bad supper.'"-AUBREY. 26. BEAR and forbear. A phrase frequently used by Epictetus. This sage is said to have been an example of what he taught. He was in early life a slave at Rome, in the reign of Nero. His wicked master Epaphroditus used to divert himself with striking the poor boy's legs with a stick, and the only reply he made was, that if he gave him such heavy blows he would break the bone; which happening accordingly, Epictetus merely said, "Did not I tell you you would break my leg?" When he afterwards obtained his liberty, and became an eminent philosopher, an iron lamp by which he studied was stolen ;-"I shall deceive the thief," said he, "if he should come again, as he will only find an earthen one." This memorable earthen lamp was sold, after his death, for 3000 drachmas,-£76 of our money. The Mexicans have learnt, from experience, the necessity of undergoing trouble. They say to their children at the birth,-"Thou art come into the world, child, to endure; suffer, therefore, and be silent." But what a perfect pattern of forbearance have Christians in their Lord and Master, who says, "Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart," "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not." 27. Where BEES are, there is honey. Where there are industrious persons, there is wealth; the goods of fortune, gene.ally speaking, are only to be obtained by labour and industry, for The hand of the diligent maketh rich. (Prov. x. 4.) This, says Ray, we see verified in our neighbours, the Hollanders. 28. He that goes a BORROWING goes a sorrowing. Thomas Sackville, Earl of Dorset, having wasted his fortune, was so shocked at being made to wait in an anti-room at the house of a citizen, where he went to borrow money, that he resolved from that time to turn economist, and thus recovered his estate, which might else have been out at nurse as long as he lived. He was afterwards received into Queen Elizabeth's favour, and employed in many important affairs. The proverb, therefore recommends all, especially the young, to pay proper attention to money-matters, and set bounds to their expenditure, lest they do injustice to others as well as to themselves. When thou hast enough, says the wise son of Sirach, remember the time of hunger, and when thou art rich, think upon poverty and need. Plato seeing a young man of good family, who had wasted his fortune, sitting at the door of an inn feeding on scraps, said, “If this man had dined temperately he need not have supped so badly." 29. On a good BARGAIN think twice. A wise man seldom determines at first sight, on accepting a proffered advantage, however tempting it may appear. Take counsel of the night, says a Latin proverb; that is, Consult your pillow,-sleep upon it. Enter not, on the first proposal, upon any engagement that may have a material influence upon your future prospects. It is better to sleep, that is, to deliberate, on a business proposed to be done, than to be kept awake afterwards by vain regrets. A good bargain is a pick-purse. People are often induced to buy an article, because it is cheap; but how does the cautious Spaniard warn us? Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy needful things. And the English maxim, What is not wanted is dear at a farthing. 30. Who BUYS hath need of a hundred eyes, This an Italian proverb. And we have the Latin; Let the buyer look to himself. The seller generally knows the worth and price of his goods. 31. BRAG's a good dog, but Hold-fast's a better. This may be considered as a caution against vain boasting. Ray quotes a proverb like it. BRAG's a good dog; but he has lost his tail. And we sometimes say, Is your trumpeter dead, that you are obliged to praise yourself? Act then, so as to be deserving of praise, and commendation will come some day or other. Not unlike this proverb, is the following. 32. Good wine needs no BUSH. Good actions are their own interpreters, and need no praise of men to set them off. The phrase is derived from an ancient custom among vintners, of hanging out an ivy-bush, or the sign of one, to show that they sell wine. The proverb in a more limited sense, applies to persons who are too earnest in recommending, or ticketing any articles they put forth for sale, with the word, ONLY SO much." 66 33. Much BRUIT*, little fruit, or Great BOAST, small roast, or Great CRY, little wool. This may be applied to those who introduce with great pomp and noise a story that turns out to be trifling and insignificant; or to vain persons, who have neither the power nor perhaps the inclination to do what they are forward in * Noise. THE practice of conveying intelligence between distant stations, by means of tame doves, has been long used in the East; when, during the Crusades, Acre was besieged by the Christian forces, Saladin kept open a correspondence, for some time with the besieged, by means of these winged messengers; but one having been accidentally brought to the ground by an arrow, before it reached the city, the stratagem was discovered, and the communication which would have animated the courage of the besieged, by the announcement of speedy succour, being thus betrayed to the Christians, such measures were taken as compelled the surrender of the place, before Saladin could arrive to relieve it. According to Sandys, this custom is of still earlier antiquity, for he records that Thomostones, by a pigeon stained with purple, gave notice of his victory at the Olympian Games the same day, to his father in Ægina. Russell, in his History of Aleppo, says, "the pigeon, in former times, was employed in the English Factory, to convey intelligence from Scanderoon to Aleppo, of the arrival of the Company's ships in that port. The name of the ship, the hour of her arrival, and whatever else could be comprised in a small compass, was written on a slip of paper, and secured under the pigeon's wing, so as not to impede her flight, her feet were bathed in vinegar to keep them cool, and prevent her being tempted by the sight of water, to alight, whereby delay might be occasioned, or the billet lost. The pigeons have been known to perform the journey in two hours and a half, the distance being between sixty and seventy miles in a straight line. The messengerbird had a young brood at Aleppo, and was sent in an uncovered cage to Scanderoon, from whence, as soon as set at liberty, she returned with all speed to her nest. It was then usual at the season of the arrival of the ships, to send pigeons to be ready at the port, but if the bird remained more than a fortnight, she would forget her young, and could not safely be trusted. The pigeons, when let fly from Scanderoon, instead of bending their course towards the high mountains surrounding the plain, mounted at once directly up, soaring almost perpendicularly till out of sight, as if to surmount at once all obstacles intercepting their view of the place of their destination." FOLLOW the fashion in things indifferent, but stop when they become sinful.—BLAIR. KEEP thy own secret, and tell it to no one; for he who reveals a secret is no longer master of it. If thy own breast cannot contain thy secret, how can the breast of him to whom thou intrustest it? GOOD WIVES Should resemble three things, which three things they should not resemble. Good Wives to snails should be akin, Yet not like Echo, so absurd, To have for ever the last word! LONDON: JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTS, PRICE SIXPENCE, AND Sold by all Booksellers and Newsvenders in the Kingdom. UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. Great London city, thrice beneath his sway Confirm'd the presage of that happy day, When echoing bells their greeting thus begun, 66 Return, thrice Mayor! Return, oh Whittington.-BISHOP. We here present to our readers "the true portraicture" of the renowned Sir Richard Whittington, knight; the greatest Lord Mayor that ever lived; clad in the ancient costume, and attended by his distinguished favourite, the idea of which is always connected in our minds with this famous Lord Mayor, "all of the olden time." It is taken from an old print by Elstrack; and it is a curious fact, that the knight's hand formerly leaned upon a human skull, for which a cat was afterwards substituted. In illustration of the subject, we extract from an ingenious and spirited little volume, lately written by Mr. Keightley*. Richard Whittington was born in the year 1360. He followed the business of a mercer in the city of London, and acquired great wealth. Having served the office of sheriff with credit, in the year 1393, he was chosen Lord Mayor, and filled that office not less than three times, namely, in the years 1397, 1406, and 1419. He was knighted, it is said, by King Henry the Fifth, to whom he lent large sums of money for his wars in France; and he died full of years and honours in 1425. Tales and Popular Fictions, by Thomas Keightley. 1834 "This year," (1406,) says Grafton, "a worthy citizen of London, named Richard Whittington, mercer and alderman, was elected Mayor of the said city, and bore that office three times. This worshipful man so bestowed his goods and substance to the honour of God, to the relief of the poor, and to the benefit of the common-weal, that he hath right well-deserved, to be registered in the book of fame. First, he erected one house, a church, in London, to be a house of prayer, and named the same after his own name, Whittington College, and so it remaineth to this day; and in the said church, beside certain priests and clerks, he placed a number of poor aged men and women, and builded for them houses and lodgings, and allowed unto them, wood, coal, cloth, and weekly money, to their great relief and comfort. This man, also, at his own cost, builded the gate of London, called Newgate, in the year of our Lord, 1422, which before, was a most ugly and loathsome prison. He also builded more than half of Saint Bartholomew's Hospital, in West Smithfield, in London. Also he builded, of hard-stone, the beautiful library in the Grey Friars, in London, now called Christ's Hospital, standing in the north part of the cloister thereof, where in the wall, his arms are graven in stone. He also builded, for the ease of the mayor of London, and his brethren, and of the worshipful citizens, at the solemn days of their assembly, a chapel adjoining to the Guildhall; to the intent they should ever, before they entered into any of their affairs, first go into the chapel, and by prayer, call upon God for his assistance. And in the end, joining on the south side of the chapel, he builded for the city a library of stone, for the custody of their records and other books. He also builded a great part of the east end of Guildhall, beside many other good works that I know not. But among all others, I will show unto you one very his own hand, which also he willed to be fixed as a notable, which I received credibly by a writing of schedule to his last will and testament. and commanded his executors, as they would answer before God at the day of the resurrection of all flesh, that if they found any debtor of his that ought to him worth three times as much, and also out of the debt any money, if he were not, in their consciences, well of other men, and well able to pay, that then they should never demand it, for he clearly forgave it, and that they should put no man in suit for any debt due to him. Look upon this ye aldermen, for it is a glorious glass!" He willed built the parish church of St. Michael Royal, and Stow informs us, that Richard Whittington remade a college of St. Spirit and St. Mary, with an almshouse, called God's House or Hospital, for estate of Richard Whittington, and of Alice his thirteen poor men, who were to pray for the good wife, their founders; and for Sir William Whittington, knight, and Dame Joan his wife; and for Hugh Fitzwarren, and Dame Malde his wife, the fathers and mothers of the said Richard Whittington, and Alice his wife; for King Richard the Second, Thomas |