The architect, David Laing, Esq., who undertook both the external and internal arrangements. From that gentleman's original plan, it appears to have been his intention to take borings out of the site, the ground containing a stratum of gravity, which it was at first intended to pile throughout the foundation. But this plan seems not to have been carried fully into effect the piling being more partial than was originally intended. On the partial piling on a soil by no means tenacious, the walls and piers, footed on wood, were founded, and the fabric reared up. But not long after it was finished, the floor of the long room was perceived to settle, and continue to do so, until a few week ago it was thought necessary to support this floor by shoring under the groins of the arches in the cellars: but this precaution did not answer the desired purpose, for part of the floor of the long room fell in on the 26th January, 1825, which drew Mr. Laing's attention to the spot, and induced him to visit that building daily for some time. By examining the whole fabric with care and attention, he perceived that the pillars in the cellars, under the long room, had all settled, more or less. This depression of the pillars brought the weight of all the brick-work of the arches of both the cellars, the King's warehouse, and the stone floor of the long room, 190 feet by 66 feet, upon the surrounding walls. The partition walls on the east and west ends of the long room being supported by the other part of the building, stood the pressure; but the south wall having no support, except its own weight, has perceptibly bulged out, and not only rent the arches next the south wall of both the cellars and King's warehouse, for a space of many feet, but it has also drawn out with it (most likely by the connection of the iron stay crossing under the long room floor,) the opposite wall, and made a rent in the floor of the long passage, which is on the same line as the long room floor. It has also rent, for a number of yards; the corridors above. These effects are not only said to be entirely occasioned by the yielding of the piers and the pressure of the above-named arches, but increased by the weakness of the girders of the whole of the roofing over the long room. These girders are by no means deficient in quantity of timber, but the manner and method of cutting, framing, and tying to the walls, does not give strength and support equal to the quantity of materials used. Hence the framing, or girders of the domes, have expanded laterally, by the weight of timber, &c. above, so as to thrust outward, by the lateral pressure, both the front wall and the upper part of the back parapet-wall, the latter of which has opened at the end of the rafters, and shows a rent of half an inch in width, for 30 or 40 feet in length, on this light parapet-wall on the roof.

In the eastern quarter of the cellar, two of the pillars have settled several feet; the pillars above, and dependent on them, in the King's warehouse, have, of course, followed them in their descent, and brought down the arches along with that part of the floor of the long room that has fallen in. The side walls in the wings of the Custom House (through which light is given to the ante-rooms that look into the wells,) are all twisted a little or bulged out, most likely from the less care that has been taken to found them than to found the outer walls; but these courts, or these well-walls, are in no danger at present, although the corridors adjoining them are a little rent. The north side of the building, and the gable-end walls, show no infirmity but what may have been original; nor does any other part of the building appear to have settled or given way in the least. The quay adjoining the river is also fair and firm.

AMONG the many striking situations the banks of the Thames afford, none arrest the attention more powerfully than the sides of the river, as viewed from Westminster Bridge. On one side the beautiful Abbey, towering in all the sullen magnificence of monastic glory, appears to defy rivalry; while its opposite neighbour, the palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury, shrinking as it were among the trees which partly conceal it, seems to stand secure in its venerable simplicity of a share in the gazer's admiration.

The palace has been successively occupied by the Bishop of Rochester, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and latterly by the Bishop of London. The original structure was reared in the reign of Richard the First: falling into decay about a century afterwards, it was obliged to be nearly rebuilt. The portion most particularly recommended to the visitor's attention is the Lolfards tower, which was built by Henry Chicheley, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the reign of Henry the Fifth, and owed its name to the circumstance of its containing a prison for the followers of Wickliffe, the Reformer, who were called Lollards, and were greatly persecuted by the reverend prelate. Thus the present seat of the head of our enlightened religion was once the prison of its earliest followers! The room is yet shown; it is of elm planks, and of small extent, and still contains the staples and rings by which these

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wretched victims of bigotry and malevolence were confined. The beautiful gate, with a gallery, and several rooms at the east end of the Palace, were built by Cardinal Pole, who was, for a short time, one of the Archbishops of Canterbury.

THE LIBRARY is the magnet of the Palace's attraction. It was began in 1604, by Archbishop Bancroft, during the reign of James the First. The civil wars, while they stemmed the current of civil and religious improvements, forbid for a while the progress of this ecclesiastical establishment, and it was not until the restoration that it was completed, under the auspices of Doctor Juxon the then Archbishop. The stained glass in the windows is an object of considerable curiosity, it principally consists of the armorial bearings of the earliest founders and patrons; among which are those of Archbishop Chicheley, Bancroft, and Laud; and the arms of King Phillip the Second, with a portrait of Augustini. It contains upwards of 25,000 printed volumes and manuscripts, many of which are exceeding rare and costly, some illustrated by beautiful drawings and splendid illuminations, whose colours are, in general, in beautiful preservation. Besides the pictures in the great dining room hereafter mentioned, the Palace boasts of some extremely fine portraits in the Library, of the following distinguished prelates and divines:

Archbishop Bancroft, the founder; Warharn; Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester; Martin Luther, on pannel; St Dunstan; a Head, most probably imaginative; Dr. Peter Du Moulin, the chaplain of Charles the Second, and his Archbishop Juxon; Dr. David Wilkins, a former librarian ; and a large view of Canterbury Cathedral.

The Library numbers amongst its patrons Queen Elizabeth, the Earl of Leicester, and Archbishop Laud; and many other royal and distinguished individuals, who have, at various times, added to its treasures.

Among other curiosities exhibited here is a shell of a tortoise;

animal was put in the garden of the Palace by Archbishop Laud in 16.3 where it lived ninety years, when it was killed through the carelesness of the gardener.

THE GREAT DINING ROOM contains portraits of all the Archbishops of Canterbury, from Laud to Cornwallis; which, independent of the interest attached to their original, are worthy of minute inspection on account of their exhibiting the various changes in ecclesiastical costume.

Among the most striking, are

Among the miscellaneous portraits are those of

Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Sarum, half length, in full robes, date 1689; Bishop Hough, of Oxford, and afterwards of Lichfield and Worcester, half length, date 1690; Bishop Lloyd, of Lichfield and Worcester, dated 1699; Dr. Patrick, Bishop of Ely, 1691; Bishop Thomas Newton, of London, half length, by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Although there is a want of uniformity throughout the building, from the circumstance of its being built at different periods, yet it wears a venerable aspect, and when seen from the river is truly imposing and effective.

ALTHOUGH no spot in this large metropolis is richer in historical or classical research than Westminster, yet, from the confined nature of our work, we are prevented from giving even a brief detail of the various objects that are worthy of the visitor's attention; for to do the whole of them justice, would require a much greater space than the whole of this volume affords. We have therefore preferred giving a brief notice of the School, convinced of the utility of the information to those parents who are desirous of placing their children in that admirable foundation.

WESTMINSTER SCHOOL is situated in Dean's Yard, which is within the precincts of the Abbey, and boasts of considerable antiquity. It was first erected about the year 1070, and was formerly attached to the Monastery of Benedictines, a most extensive and splendid establishment. The broad part on the north side of the abbey was appointed as a sanctuary; the church, of which it formed part, was built in the form of a cross, and is said to have been the work of the Confessor. Upon its being demolished, great difficulty was occasioned by the strength and solidity of its structure, and it was not levelled without considerable difficulty. Upon its site now stands the NEW Guildhall for the City of Westminster, a neat circular build

ing, evidently designed more for utility than ornament; at present occupied as the Court of King's Bench, till the new Court, now building in Westminster Hall, is completed.

The present foundation derives its origin from Queen Elizabeth, who in 1560 re-established the Dean and Chapter, and rendered the church collegiate. The scholars on the foundation are called the King's," and are supported and educated free of expence; eight of those most advanced are annually sent to the university, where they have the privileges of exhibitions and collections, which render their expences comparatively trivial. Besides those who are admitted gratuitously on the foundation, a great number of the sons of the nobility and gentlemen are educated here as private scholars, and reside either with their friends or in the neighbouring boarding houses. The masters are men of considerable eminence, and the course of education is of the first description, and the best preparation for academical honours; many of our most distinguished characters have received their education at this ancient establishment. In the course of the winter in every year the scholars perform one of Terences' plays, in a style and manner which is worthy of the glories of the ancient Drama.

WESTMINSTER HALL.

AMONG the recent improvements, renovations, and modernisation of ancient buildings in London, the revived architecture of Westminster Hall merits special notice.

Westminster Hall is generally believed to have been built by William Rufus, about the year 1097, during his absence in Normandy, and it is traditionally stated, that on his return from the wars there, he affected disappointment at its dimentions, as being not half big enough, and fitter for his bed chamber than the public hall of his palace, with which it was connected.

The outside walls of Westminster Hall and part of its north end (which was visible during the recent renovation) sufficiently prove the Hall of William Rufus to have been a rude structure; and the difficulty of explaining in what manner such a span of Roof could have been supported before the flying buttresses were erected, was done away by the developement of an ancient triple door-way at the northern entrance, indicating that the Hall was originally divided by pillars of wood or stone, so as to form a nave and side-aisles in the manner of a large church.

Such as it was, the Hall answered the purposes of Royal Feasting and National Councils, as well as for the usual Courts of Justice, till the reign of Richard II., when, from the effects of time, and of a fire which destroyed the roof, it became absolutely necessary to rebuild the Hall, or to give it a thorough repair. The last was chosen, and executed with so much judgment and good taste, as to remain one of the best specimens of English architecture; which soon afterwards degenerated into a detail and ramification of ornament, calculated to exhibit the dexterity of the stone-mason, instead of the genuine grandeur and propriety which satisfies the mind while contemplating the work of a consummate architect.

It is not a little singular that the actual contract for part of this repair is still extant, and is published in Rymer's Fadera. It bears date the 18th