Chapter M: DCC LXI (4)

To begin with the first entrance into the palace, at the gates of
which are four large brick piers, adorned with the lion and unicorn,
each of them holding a shield, whereon are the arms of Great Britain,
with several trophies of war well carved on stone.

Passing through a long court yard, on each side of which are stabling
for the officers of his Majesty’s houshold, we come next to the first
portal, which is strongly built of brick, and decorated by Wolfey with
the heads of four of the Cæsars, Trajan and Adrian on one side, and on
the other Tiberius and Vitellius.

Thro’ this portal we pass into a large quadrangle, remarkable for
nothing extraordinary, but its spaciousness and uniformity. This leads
to a second quadrangle, where over the portal is a beautiful
astronomical clock, made by the celebrated Tompion, on which are
curiously represented the twelve signs of the zodiac, with the rising
and setting of the sun, the various phases of the moon, and other
ornaments, and indications of time.

On the left hand of this quadrangle is the great old hall, in which,
by her late Majesty’s command, was erected a theatre, wherein it was
intended that two plays should have been acted every week, during the
time of the court’s continuance there; but Mr. Colley Cibber observes,
that only seven plays were performed in it, by the players from Drury
lane, the summer when it was raised, and one afterwards for the
entertainment of the Duke of Lorrain, afterwards Emperor of Germany.
In the front is a portal of brick decorated with four Cæsars heads
without names.

On the opposite side of this quadrangle is a stone colonade of
fourteen columns, and two pilasters of the Ionic order, with an
entablature and balustrade at the top, adorned in the middle with two
large vases.

This leads to the great stair case, adorned with iron balusters
curiously wrought and gilt, the whole erected on porphyry. From the
ceiling hangs by a strong brass chain gilt, a large glass lanthorn
which holds sixteen candles, and has an imperial crown at the top.
This staircase, with the ceiling, were painted by Signor Verrio, an
Italian, by order of King William III.

At the top, on the left side, are Apollo and the nine Muses, at whose
feet sits the God Pan with his unequal reeds, and a little below them
the Goddess Ceres, holding in one hand a wheat sheaf, and with the
other pointing to loaves of bread; at her feet is Flora, surrounded by
her attendants, and holding in her right hand a chaplet of flowers;
near her are the two river Gods Thame and Isis with their urns; and a
large table in the middle, upon which is a quantity of rich plate,
decorated with flowers.

On the ceiling are Jupiter and Juno, with Ganymede riding on Jupiter’s
eagle, and offering the cup. Juno’s peacock is in the front: one of
the Parcæ, with her scissors in her hand, seems to wait for Jove’s
orders to cut the thread of life. These figures are covered with a
fine canopy surrounded with the signs of the zodiac, and by several
zephyrs, with flowers in their hands; and on one side of them is Fame
with her two trumpets.

Beneath is a beautiful figure of Venus riding on a swan, Mars
addressing himself to her as a lover, and Cupid riding on another
swan.

On the right hand are Pluto and Proserpine, Cœlus and Terra, Cybele
crowned with a tower, and others. Neptune and Amphitrite are in the
front, and two attendants are serving them with nectar and fruit.
Bacchus is leaning on a rich ewer, and, being accompanied by his
attendants, places his left hand on the head of Silenus, who sits on
an ass that is fallen down, he seeming to catch at a table, to which
Diana above is pointing. The table is supported by eagles; on one side
of it sits Romulus, the founder of Rome, with a wolf; and on the other
side of it is Hercules leaning on his club. Peace in her right hand
holds a laurel, and in her left a palm over the head of Æneas, who
seems inviting the twelve Cæsars, among whom is Spurina the
soothsayer, to a celestial banquet. Over their heads hovers the genius
of Rome with a flaming sword, the emblem of destruction, and a bridle,
the emblem of government, both in her right hand.

The next is the Emperor Julian writing at a table, while Mercury
dictates to him.

Over the door at the head of the stairs is a funeral pile, done in
stone colour; and under the above paintings are thirty-six panels,
representing trophies of war, and other decorations in the same
colour.

From the stair case we pass into the guard chamber, which is very
large and spacious, it being upwards of sixty feet long, and forty
feet wide. This room contains arms for 5000 men, curiously placed in
various forms. There are here pilasters of pikes and bayonet on each
side sixteen panels that go round the room; with variety of other
ornaments, as muskets in chequer work, stars made of bayonets, swords,
&c.

The next is the King’s first presence chamber, which is hung with rich
old tapestry. The ceiling is vaulted, and from the center hangs a fine
lustre of nineteen branches. Fronting the door are the canopy and
chair of state, which, as well as the stools, are of crimson damask;
on the back part of the canopy are the King’s arms, and round the
vallance, a crown and cypher embroidered in gold.

On the left hand of the entrance, behind the door is a fine picture
about eighteen feet by fifteen, by Sir Godfrey Kneller. King William
III. is in armour on a stately grey horse, trampling on trophies of
war, by which lies a flaming torch. At the top in the clouds Mercury
and Peace support his helmet, decorated with laurel, and a Cupid holds
a scroll. On the bottom part of the picture appear Neptune and his
attendants by the side of a rock, welcoming the hero on shore; and at
a distance is seen a fleet of ships, their sails swelled with the east
wind. In the front ground Plenty with her cornucopia offers him an
olive branch, and Flora presents flowers.

Over the chimney is a whole length of the Marquis of Hamilton, Lord
Steward of the houshold to King Charles I. by Van Somer; and over the
doors are two pieces of architecture, finely executed by Rosso.

The next room, which is called the second presence chamber, is
spacious, and has a vaulted ceiling, from the centre of which hangs a
gilt chandelier of twelve branches. The tapestry is ancient but very
rich, the lights being all gold, and the shadows silk; the subjects
are, Hercules and the Hydra, and Midas with his ass’s ears. The chair
of state and stools are of crimson damask fringed with the same
colour. Over the chimney is a whole length of Christiern IV. King of
Denmark, by Van Somer. This picture, as most of the large ones are, is
decorated round the frame on the outside with festoons of fruit and
flowers, finely carved in high-relief. Over the three doors are pieces
of ruins and landscapes, by Rosso. In this room are also two fine
marble tables, with two pier glasses, and two pair of gilt stands.

The fourth room is very lofty; in the middle hangs a beautiful chased
silver chandelier of sixteen branches. Here is a fine canopy of state,
with the window curtains, chair and stools, of rich crimson damask
laced and fringed with gold. The tapestry, which represents part of
the story of Abraham, is fine; over the chimney is a whole length
picture of Elizabeth Queen of Bohemia, the daughter of King James I.
and over each of the two doors is a Madona, by Domenico Fetti.

In the fifth room is also a chair of state, and stools; the window
curtains are tissue with a silver ground; there are silver sconces
fastened to the tapestry, which is richly woven with gold, but is very
ancient; the subject is Abraham sending his servants to get a wife for
Isaac. Over the chimney piece is an admirable whole length picture of
King Charles I. by Van Dyck; and over the doors are two capital
pictures, the first is David with Goliath’s head, by Fetti; the other
the holy family, by Correggio.

In the King’s state bed chamber is a crimson velvet bed, laced with
gold, having plumes of white feathers on the top. This room, which is
very spacious, is hung round with tapestry representing the history of
Joshua, about which are eight silver sconces chased with the Judgment
of Solomon. The ceiling, which was painted by Verrio, represents
Endymion lying with his head in the lap of Morpheus, and Diana
admiring him as he sleeps. On another part of the ceiling is a fine
figure of Somnus, or Sleep, with his attendants, and in the border are
four landscapes, and four boys with baskets of flowers intermixed with
poppies. Over the doors are two flower pieces, finely painted by
Baptist; and over the chimney is a whole length of the Dutchess of
York, by Van Somer.

In the King’s private bed chamber, the bed is of crimson damask, and
the room hung with fine tapestry, the subject of which is Solbay
fight.

The King’s dressing room, which is about twelve feet long, and six
feet wide, has the ceiling painted by Verrio. Mars is sleeping in
Venus’s lap, while several Cupids steal away his armour, sword and
spear, and others are binding his legs and arms with fetters of roses.
The borders are decorated with jessamin, orange trees in pots, and
several sorts of birds. Over the doors are fine flower pieces, by
Baptist. The room is hung with straw-coloured India damask, and the
chair, stools and screen, are covered with the same.

The King’s writing closet is of a triangular form, and has two
windows. The hangings and stools are of a pea-green India damask. A
glass is here so placed, as to shew all the rooms on that side of the
building in one view. Over each door is a flower piece by Baptist, and
over the chimney a fine picture of a great variety of birds, by
Bougdane. There is here a fine collection of china.

Queen Mary’s closet is hung with needle work, said to be wrought with
her own hand; there are also an easy chair, four others, and a screen,
all said to be the work of that excellent Queen. The work is extremely
neat; the figures are well shadowed, perhaps equal to the best
tapestry, and shew great judgment in drawing. Over the chimney piece
is an old painting, said to be Raphael’s, representing Jupiter’s
throne, by which is the thunder, and his eagle in the clouds.

The Queen’s gallery, which is about seventy feet long, and twenty-five
feet wide, is hung with seven beautiful pieces of tapestry,
representing the history of Alexander the Great, and done after the
famous paintings of Le Brun; they are however not placed according to
chronology, for some of the last actions of Alexander’s life are
placed before those which preceded them. Under that part of the
tapestry which represents the story of Alexander and Diogenes, and
which is placed over the chimney piece, is a very neat bust of a Venus
in alabaster standing upon an oval looking-glass, under which are two
doves billing in basso relievo. Among the other furniture in this
gallery, are two very fine tables of Egyptian marble.

The ceiling of the Queen’s state bed chamber is finely painted by Sir
J. Thorn-hill, who has represented Aurora rising out of the ocean in
her golden chariot, drawn by four white horses. The bed is of crimson
damask; and besides other furniture, the room is adorned with a glass
lustre with silver sockets. Over a large marble chimney piece is a
whole length of King James I. by Van Somer. At his right hand, over
one of the doors, is Queen Anne his consort; on his left, their
daughter the Princess Elizabeth, afterwards Queen of Bohemia; both by
Van Somer. Over the other door is a beautiful whole length of Henry
Prince of Wales, their eldest son, by Van Dyck. In the cornice are
four other portraits, one on each side, viz. his late Majesty K.
George I. his present Majesty King George II. the late Queen Caroline,
and the late Prince of Wales.

The Queen’s drawing room has the ceiling painted by Signor Verrio; in
the middle of which is the late Queen Anne, under the character of
Justice, holding the scales in one hand, and the sword in the other:
she is dressed in a purple robe lined with ermine; and Neptune and
Britannia are holding a crown over her head. The room is hung with
green damask, upon which are placed nine pictures, three on each side
of the room, and three at the end. These were formerly all in one
piece of a great length, as may be very plainly seen from some of the
figures being cut asunder, and placed in different pieces. The whole
is the triumph of Julius Cæsar, and was a long procession of soldiers,
priests, officers of state, &c. at the end of which that Emperor
appears in his triumphal chariot, with Victory holding a laurel crown
over his head. It is painted in water colours upon canvas, by Andrea
Mantegna.

The Queen’s state audience room is hung with rich tapestry,
representing the children of Israel carrying the twelve stones to the
river Jordan, as mentioned in Joshua iv. Here is a fine canopy of
state, and five pictures at full length, the Duke, Dutchess, and
Marchioness of Brunswick their daughter; the Dutchess of Lenox, and
Margaret Queen of Scots, all by Holbein.

The Prince of Wales’s presence chamber is hung with tapestry wrought
with the story of Tobit and Tobias. Here is a canopy of state of green
damask: over one of the doors is Guzman, and over another Gundamor,
two Spanish ambassadors: over the third is Madam Chatillon, the French
Admiral’s lady; and over the chimney, Lewis XIII. of France, with a
walking stick in his hand, and a dog by his side, all by Holbein.

The Prince of Wales’s drawing room is hung with tapestry, representing
Elymas the sorcerer struck with blindness; this is taken from one of
the cartons. Over the chimney piece is the Duke of Wirtemburg: over
one of the doors is a whole length of the wife of Philip II. King of
Spain; and over the other, a whole length of Count Mansfield, General
of the Spaniards in the Low Countries, all by Holbein.

The Prince of Wales’s bed chamber has a bed of green damask, and four
pictures also done by Holbein, viz. over the chimney piece is a whole
length of the Duke of Lunenbourg, great grandfather to his present
Majesty; over one of the doors Philip II. King of Spain; over another,
the consort of Christiern IV. King of Denmark; and over the third, a
whole length of the Prince of Parma, Governor of the Netherlands.

In the private dining room are four pictures of the defeat of the
Spanish Armada, by Vande Velde; and over the chimney a very fine one,
by Van Dyck, of the Lord Effingham Howard, Lord High Admiral of
England.

In the Admiral’s gallery are the pictures of the following celebrated
Admirals, Sir George Rooke, Sir Cloudsley Shovel, Sir John Leake, the
Lord Torrington, Admiral Churchill, Sir Stafford Fairborne, Sir John
Jennings, Sir Thomas Hopson, Admiral Beaumont, Sir Thomas Dilks,
Admiral Bembo, Admiral Whetstone, Admiral Wishart, Admiral Graydon,
Admiral Munden; all painted by Dahl, and Sir Godfrey Kneller.

In the room of Beauties, nine ladies are placed in the following
order: the Lady Peterborough, the Lady Ranelagh, the Lady Middleton,
Miss Pitt, the Duchess of St. Alban’s, Lady Essex, Lady Dorset, Queen
Mary, and the Duchess of Grafton. Q. Mary was painted by Wissing, and
all the rest by Sir Godfrey Kneller.

In the Carton gallery are the celebrated cartons of Raphael Urbino, so
called from their being painted on paper. These are seven pieces of
sacred history, taken from the New Testament, and were at first
designed only as patterns for tapestry. For these admirable pieces
Lewis XIV. is said to have offered 100,000 louis d’ors.

These pictures, which may be properly termed coloured drawings on
paper, as big as the life, are painted with great delicacy and beauty
in water colours. The first is the miraculous draught of fishes, in
which Christ appears in the boat with an air of divine gentleness. A
very ingenious modern author, whose words we shall chiefly follow in
the description of these admirable pieces, observes, that the exotic
birds, the magnificent large fowl placed on the shore in the fore
ground, have a sea wildness in them; and, as their food was fish,
contribute to express the business in hand, which is fishing; and
being thus placed on the shore, prevents the heaviness which that part
would otherwise have had, by breaking the parallel lines that would
have been made by the boat, and the base of the picture.

However in this carton Raphael has made a boat too little to hold the
figures he has placed in it; but had he made it large enough for those
figures, the picture would have been all boat; and to have made his
figures small enough for a vessel of that size, would have rendered
them unsuitable to the rest of the set, and less considerable: there
would have been too much boat, and too little figure.

The second, which is the delivery of the keys, has received some
injury, and is not now what Raphael made it. As this is the appearance
of our Saviour after the resurrection, present authority, late
suffering, humility and majesty, despotic command, and divine love,
are at once visible in his celestial aspect. He is wrapt only in one
large piece of white drapery, his left arm and breast are bare, and
part of his legs naked, which was undoubtedly done to denote his
appearing in his resurrection body, and not as before his crucifixion,
when this dress would have been altogether improper. The figures of
the eleven apostles all express the same passion of admiration, but
discover it differently according to their characters. Peter receives
his master’s orders on his knees, with an admiration mixed with a more
particular attention; the words used on that occasion are expressed by
our Saviour’s pointing to a flock of sheep, and St. Peter’s having
just received two keys. The two next express a more open ecstasy,
though still constrained by their awe of the divine presence. The
beloved disciple has in his countenance wonder drowned in love; and
the last personage, whose back is towards the presence, one would
fancy to be St. Thomas, whose perplexed concern could not be better
drawn, than by this acknowledgment of the difficulty to describe it.
The apostle who stands in profile immediately behind St. John, has a
yellow garment with red sleeves, which connects the figure with St.
Peter and St. John, whose draperies are of the same species of
colours; next is a loose changeable drapery, then another different
yellow with shadows bearing on the purple, all which produce wonderful
harmony.

The third is the miracle of healing the cripple at the Beautiful Gate
of the temple. All the figures are admirably performed; the boys are
done with great judgment, and by being naked make a fine contrast. The
figures are placed at one end near the corner, which varies the side
of the picture, and gives an opportunity to enlarge the building with
a fine portico, the like of which you must imagine must be on the
other side of the main structure, all which together make a noble
piece of architecture.

The fourth is the history of the death of Ananias. Here is the
greatest dignity in the apostles; they are however only a subordinate
group, because the principal action relates to the criminal; thither
the eye is directed by almost all the figures in the picture; what a
horror and reverence is visible in the whole assembly on this
mercenary man’s falling down dead!

The fifth is Elymas the sorcerer struck with blindness. His whole body
from head to foot expresses his being blind. How admirably are terror
and astonishment expressed in the people present? and how variously
according to their several characters? the Proconsul has these
sentiments but as a Roman and a gentleman, the rest in several degrees
and manners. The same sentiments appear in Ananias’s death, together
with those of joy and triumph, which naturally arise in good minds
upon the fight of the divine justice and the victory of truth.

What grace and majesty is seen in the great apostle of the gentiles,
in all his actions, preaching, rending his garments, denouncing
vengeance on the sorcerer! The Proconsul Sergius Paulus has a
greatness and grace superior to his character; and equal to what one
can suppose in Cæsar, Augustus, or Trajan.

The sixth is the sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas by the people of
Lycaonia. The occasion of this is finely told; the man healed of his
lameness, to express his sense of the divine power which appeared in
these apostles, and to shew it to be him, not only a crutch is under
his feet on the ground, but an old man takes up the lappet of his
garment, and looks upon the limb he remembers to have been crippled,
expressing great devotion and amazement; which are sentiments seen in
the other, with a mixture of joy.

The group of the ox and popa are taken from a bass relievo in the
Villa de Medici.

The seventh is St. Paul preaching to the Athenians. The divine orator
is the chief figure; but with what wonderful art are almost all the
different tempers of mankind represented in that elegant audience! one
is eminently distinguished as a believer, holding out his hands in
rapture, and has the second place in the picture; another is wrapped
up in deep suspense; another saying there is some reason in what he
says; another angry and malicious at his destroying some favourite
opinion; others attentive and reasoning on the matter within
themselves, or with one another; while the generality attend, and wait
for the opinion of those who are leading characters in the assembly.
Some are placed before the apostle, some behind, not only as caring
less for the preacher or the doctrine, but to raise the apostolic
character, which would lose something of its dignity, if his maligners
were supposed to be able to look him in the face.

This picture is conducted with the greatest judgment. The attitude of
St. Paul is as fine as possible, pointing out his hands to the statue
of Mercury, alluding to their idolatry; for the men of Lystra would
call him by that name, and worship him as a God presiding over
eloquence. Thus the picture shews the subject of his preaching. The
little drapery thrown over the apostle’s shoulder, and hanging down to
his waist, poises the figure, which otherwise would seem ready to
tumble forwards. The drapery is red and green, the back ground is
expressive of the superstition St. Paul was preaching against, as
above-mentioned. No historian, orator or poet, can possibly give so
great an idea of the eloquent and zealous apostle as this figure does:
for there we see a person, whose face and action no words can
sufficiently describe; but which assure us as much as those can, that
that divine man must speak with good sense and to the purpose.

There were in all twelve of these pieces, two of which are in the
possession of the French King: the King of Sardinia has two of the
others, and one belonged to a gentleman in England, who pledged it for
a sum of money: but when the person who had taken this valuable
deposit found it was to be redeemed, being very unwilling to part with
it, he greatly damaged the drawing; for which the gentleman brought
his action, and it was tried in Westminster hall, where the picture
was produced. The subject was Herod’s cruelty, and indeed, the cruel
malice of the person sued, seemed to flow from a principle perhaps
equally diabolical and inexcusable.

Over the chimney piece in this gallery is a fine bas-relief in white
marble of Venus drawn in her chariot, and attended by several Cupids.

We come next to the Queen’s staircase, where the ceiling is painted by
Vick. Here is King Charles II. and Catharine his Queen, with the Duke
of Buckingham representing Science in the habit of Mercury, while Envy
is struck down by naked boys. There are also other ornaments done by
Mr. Kent.

From the Queen’s stair case, we descend into a new quadrangle, in the
middle of which is a round bason, and four large lamps on pedestals of
iron work; and on the right hand over the windows, are the twelve
labours of Hercules done in fresco.

We shall conclude our account with observing, that the whole palace
consists of three quadrangles. The first and second are Gothic, but in
the latter is a most beautiful colonade of the Ionic order, the
columns in couplets, built by Sir Christopher Wren. Through this, as
was before observed, you pass into the third court or quadrangle, in
which are the royal apartments, which are magnificently built of brick
and stone by King William III. The print shews two sides of these new
buildings. The gardens are not in the present natural stile, but in
that which prevailed some years ago, when mathematical figures were
preferred to natural forms.

HANAPER _Office_, an office in Chancery under the direction of the
Master of the Hanaper, his deputy, the clerk, sometimes called the
Warden of the Hanaper, and the six clerks in Chancery for the time
being, who are comptrollers of the Hanaper. The clerk of the Hanaper
receives all money due for charters, patents, commissions, and writs;
attends the Lord Keeper daily in term time, and at all times of
sealing, with leather bags, in which are put all sealed charters,
patents, and the like; and delivered to the comptroller of the
Hanaper. Mr. Chamberlain supposes, that instead of leather bags the
clerk of the Hanaper formerly carried a hamper, and that from thence
he was called the clerk of the Hamper or Hanaper.

HAND _alley_, 1. High Holborn.* 2. Long alley, Moorfields.* 3. Norfolk
street.* 4. Petticoat lane and Bishopsgate street.* 5. Snow hill.* 6.
Wormwood street.*

HAND AND CROWN _alley_, Cow Cross.*

HAND AND PEN _alley_, Tower hill.*

HAND _court_, 1. Petticoat lane.* 2. Philip lane, London Wall.* 3. Near
the Steel yard, Thames street.*

HAND AND CROWN _court_, 1. Chiswell street.* 2. Gravel lane.* 3. Orchard
street.*

HAND AND HOLYBUSH _court_, St. Clement’s.*

HAND AND PEN _court_, 1. Barbican.* 2. Great Tower hill.* 3. Leadenhall
street.*

HANDCOCK’S _yard_, Brown’s lane, Spitalfields.*

HAND IN HAND _alley_, St. Olave’s street.*

HAND IN HAND FIRE OFFICE, in Angel court, Snow hill, opposite St.
Sepulchre’s church, for insuring only houses, was erected in the year
1696, by about one hundred persons, who entering into a mutual
agreement to insure each other from losses by having their houses
consumed by fire, formed a deed of settlement for that purpose, which
was inrolled in Chancery on the 24th of January 1698, and this deed
being signed by every person desirous of becoming a member, he or she
is by this means admitted into the joint copartnership, and becomes an
equal sharer in the profit and loss, in proportion to his or her
respective insurance.

The conditions of insurance are, two shillings _per cent._ premium,
and ten shillings _per cent._ deposit on brick houses, and double
those sums on timber houses in the cities of London and Westminster,
and within five computed miles from the same, to be paid on insuring
for a term not exceeding seven years.

Houses in the country, beyond five, and so far as twenty computed
miles from the said cities are to pay an additional premium of one
shilling _per cent._ on brick, and double on timber; and beyond twenty
so far as thirty computed miles from the said cities, being the limits
of insurance by this office, an additional premium of two shillings
_per cent._ on brick, and double on timber, the deposit being the same
in all places. Houses with party-walls of brick or stone are to be
accounted brick, and those which have not such party-walls to be
accounted timber houses. Thatched are not to be insured.

Any number of contiguous houses, not exceeding the value of three
hundred pounds, may be insured in one policy.

No more than two thousand pounds can be insured on one house in a
policy: but halls, hospitals, and other large buildings, divided by
brick or stone partitions, may each be insured in several policies.

At the expiration of policies, or whatever time the property in their
houses ceases, all persons may on application to the office, receive
the deposit, together with the dividends of profit made every year
from the premium and interest of money, after the charges of the
office are paid, deducting their proportion of contributions towards
losses, during the time they have been insured.

Hence it plainly appears, that the whole money paid on insuring, both
premium and deposit, is in effect only deposited, to make good losses
by fire and the charges of the office; it being all returned, except
what is applied to those purposes.

Contributions are laid when fires happen, and dividends made every
year by the Directors, which are registered in tables hung up in the
office, to be perused by the members.

All the members or persons insured, have the liberty of examining all
the books and papers of the office, at seasonable hours, gratis.

No person insured is obliged to pay above ten shillings _per cent._
Contribution for brick, and double for timber houses, more than the
money first deposited. This being now upwards of 80,000_l._ valuing
the public securities at _Par_, must all be exhausted by losses
happening almost together, before any call can be made from the
members.

The affairs of the office are managed by twenty-four Directors,
without any salary or reward, who are chosen by balloting for three
years, from amongst, and by the persons insured, in the way of an
annual rotation, eight new ones every year, on the three days
immediately preceding the general meeting in November. They meet at
the office in Angel court on Snow hill, to transact business, every
Tuesday at three in the afternoon.

Every house before it can be insured, must be surveyed by a person
employed by the office, and in case of a loss or damage, is to be put
into the condition it was in before the fire, allowing not more than
three shillings a yard for painting, nor above thirty pounds for any
chimney piece; or else the whole sum insured is to be paid to the
sufferer without any deduction.

Nothing is more evident than that the profits of insurance, which in
the offices insuring for gain are divided on their capital stock, are
here, together with the salaries of the Directors, applied to the
benefit of the insured. The consequence of which is, that this office
having paid above two hundred and fifty thousand pounds for losses;
the charge to the injured from its beginning in the year 1696, has
been at a medium under nine-pence a year for one hundred pounds
insured on brick houses.

The surveyors are to survey houses with all convenient expedition
after directions are left, without any fee or reward.

The clerks give constant attendance at the office, from eight in the
morning to six in the evening. _The proposals delivered by the Office,
October 10, 1758._

This company keep in their service thirty firemen, who are annually
clothed, and have each a badge, on which are two hands joined and a
crown over them.

HAND IN HAND _yard_, Old Horselydown lane.*

HAND _yard_, Thames street.*

HANGING LION _yard_, Nightingale lane, East Smithfield.*

HANGING SWORD _alley_, 1. Quaker street.* 2. Water lane, Fleet street.*

HANGING SWORD _court_, Water lane, Fleet street.*

HANGMAN’S _acre_, King David’s fort, near Bluegate fields.

HANGMAN’S GAINS, St. Catherines. Mr. Strype observes, that the towns of
Calais, Hammes, and Guisnes, being lost in the reign of Queen Mary,
many of the inhabitants fled to England, and wanting habitations, a
part of St. Catharine’s where this lane is now built, was allowed
them, which from the countries whence they came was called Hammes and
Guisnes, which at length by a vulgar corruption was changed to
Hangman’s gains.

HANGMAN’S GAINS _alley_, St. Catharine’s.

HANNOWAY _street_, Tottenham Court road.†

HANOVER _court_, 1. Grub street. 2. Houndsditch. 3. In the Minories.

HANOVER _square_, so called in compliment to the present royal family,
has Oxford road on the north; Swallow street in the east; Conduit
street on the south; and New Bond street on the west. The area of the
square contains about two acres of ground, in the middle of which is a
garden inclosed with rails; the houses are new built in the modern
taste; they make a grand appearance, and are inhabited by noblemen and
gentlemen of distinguished rank.

The author of the Review of the public buildings remarks, that the
upper end of Great George street towards Hanover square is laid out so
considerably wider than at the other end, that it quite reverses the
perspective, and shews the end of the vista broader than the
beginning; which was calculated to give a noble view of this square
from its entrance, and a better prospect down the street from the
other side, and both way the effects answer the intention. He adds,
that the view down George street, from the upper side of the square,
is one of the most entertaining in this whole city: the sides of the
square, the area in the middle, the breaks of building that form the
entrance of the vista, the vista itself, but above all, the beautiful
projection of the portico of St. George’s church, are all
circumstances that unite in beauty, and render the scene perfect.

HANOVER _street_, 1. Hanover square. 2. Long Acre. 3. Rotherhith Wall.

HANOVER _stairs_, Hanover street, Rotherhith.

HANOVER _yard_, St. Giles’s.

HANSON’S _alley_, St. Giles’s Broad street.†

HARCOURT’S _buildings_, Inner Temple.†

HARDING’S _alley_, Petty France, Westminster.†

HARE _alley_, Shoreditch.*

HARE _court_, 1. Aldersgate street.* 2. Hare street, Spitalfields.* 3.
Inner Temple.* 4. Little Knightrider’s street.* 5. Petticoat lane.* 6.
Upper Ground.*

HARE COURT _buildings_, Inner Temple.*

HAREFIELD, a village in Middlesex, near the river Coln, between
Rickmansworth and Uxbridge, about twenty miles from London. _Harefield
Place_ is the seat of Sir Roger Newdigate, Bart. Here also George
Cooke, Esq; the present member for the county of Middlesex, has a
handsome seat and park.

HARE _marsh_, Hare street.*

HARE _street_, Brick lane, Spitalfields.*

HARE _yard_, Hoxton.*

HARLEY _street_, as does most of the other streets near it, took its
name from the late Earl of Oxford, the ground landlord, who left it to
his lady. This is a noble new street, extending northward from
Cavendish square where Sir Richard Littleton’s house is at the corner.

HARP _alley_, 1. Grub street.* 2. Little Knightrider’s street.* 3.
Saffron hill.* 4. Shoe lane.*

HARP _court_, Little Knightrider’s street.*

HARP _lane_, Tower street.*

HARP _yard_, Black horse yard, Fleet street.*

HARPER’S _alley_, Fore street, Lambeth.†

HARPER’S _walk_, Fore street, Lambeth.†

HARRIE’S _gun wharf_, Millbank.†

HARRISON’S _court_, Brook street.†

HARRIS’S _court_, Ratcliff Highway.†

HARRIS’S _rents_, Rosemary lane.†

HARROLD’S _court_, Coal yard.†

HARROW _alley_, 1. St. Catharine’s.* 2. Holborn.* 3. Mint street.* 4.
Old Gravel lane.* 5. Old street.* 6. Petticoat lane.* 7. Whitechapel.*

HARROW _corner_, 1. Bennet’s hill.* 2. Deadman’s place.* 3. Fleet lane.*
4. Long lane.*

HARROW _dunghil_, Mint street.*

HARROW _dunghil yard_, Old Horselydown.*

HARROW _yard_, Ropemakers fields.*

HARROW ON THE HILL, is situated in Middlesex, fifteen miles N. W. from
London, on the highest hill in the county, on the summit of which
stands the church, which has a very high spire. This parish is famous
for a free school founded by Mr. John Lyons in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth; and every 4th of August a select number of the scholars,
dressed in the habit of archers, come with their bows, and shoot at a
mark for a silver arrow.

HARTFORD, or HERTFORD, the county town of Hartfordshire, is situated on
the river Lea, twenty-three miles from London, and is a place of great
antiquity. It is said to have been of some note even in the time of
the ancient Britons; here the Saxon Kings frequently kept their
courts, and here King Alfred built a castle, by which he destroyed the
Danish vessels that passed from the Thames up the river Lea. The town
had its first charter granted by Queen Mary, by which it was made a
corporation, and King James I. granted it a new one. The town is
pleasantly situated in a dry and healthful vale, and built in the form
of a Y with a castle in the middle of the two horns. It is governed by
a High Steward, who is generally a nobleman, and by a Mayor, nine
Aldermen, a Recorder, a Town Clerk, a Chamberlain, ten capital
Burgesses, with sixteen Assistants, and two serjeants at mace. Here
were five churches, which are reduced to two. In that of St. Andrew’s
there is not only a seat for the Mayor and Aldermen, but another for
the Governors of Christ Church hospital in London, and a gallery, in
which 200 of the children of that hospital may be accommodated; for
the Governors have erected an handsome house in the town for such
children, as either wanted health, or are too young for that hospital.
Here is also a handsome free school, and three charity schools; but
tho’ the splendor of the town is much diminished, since the north road
from London was turned through Ware, yet the county jail is still kept
here, and the jail delivery in the castle. This town has the honour of
giving the title of Earl to the Duke of Somerset, and of sending two
members to parliament. The chief commodities of its market are wool,
wheat, and malt, and it is said to send 5000 quarters of malt weekly
to London by the river Lea.

Near this town is a seat of the late Governor Harrison, pleasantly
situated on a hill that commands a fine prospect of the country all
around; and its neighbourhood is a seat of the Clarks, which also
enjoys a delightful situation.

HARTINGFORDBURY, a village a little to the west of Hartford, near which
the Earl Cowper has a handsome seat, built by his father, the Lord
Chancellor of that name.

HART _alley_, Grub street, Fore street.*

HART _court_, Little Knightrider’s street.*

HART ROW _street_, without Newgate.*

HART _street_, 1. Bloomsbury. 2. By Bow street, Covent Garden. 3.
Cripplegate. 4. Duke street. 5. Mark lane, Fenchurch street.

HARTSHORN _court_, 1. Golden lane. 2. Moor lane.

HARTSHORN _lane_, in the Strand, lately by Northumberland house, leading
down from the Strand to the water side; but it is now demolished, and
a handsome street building in its room, which, it is said, will be
called Northumberland street, from the present Earl of Northumberland
to whom it belongs.

HARVEY’S _court_, in the Strand.†

HARWAR’S _Almshouse_, in Kingsland road, was founded by Mr. Samuel
Harwar, citizen and draper, in the year 1713, for twelve single men
and women, six of whom are to be put in by the company of Drapers, and
the other six by the parish of St. Leonard, Shoreditch: each of whom
is allowed six shillings a month, and eighteen bushels of coals a
year.

HARWOOD’S _court_, 1. Wellclose square. 2. Well street.

HARWOOD’S _yard_, Holiwell street.*

HASS _park_, Wheeler street.

HASTEWOOD’S _court_, Blue Anchor alley.†

HASTING’S _court_, 1. Ratcliff Highway.† 2. Upper Shadwell.†

HAT AND MITRE _court_, St. John’s street.*

HATBANDMAKERS, a company incorporated by letters patent granted by King
Charles I. in the year 1638. They have a Master, two Wardens, and
twelve Assistants; but have neither livery nor hall.

This fraternity during the wear of rich hatbands, was in a flourishing
condition; but this part of dress having been many years out of
fashion, the trade of making hatbands is almost dwindled to nothing,
so that there are at present but two or three of the company who are
really hatbandmakers. _Maitland._

HATCHET _alley_, 1. Church lane, Whitechapel. 2. East Smithfield. 3.
Little Britain. 4. Little Tower hill.

HATE _street_, Greek street, Soho.

HATFIELD, a town in Hertfordshire, twenty miles from London, was called
Bishops-Hatfield, from its belonging to the Bishops of Ely. Here
Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury held a synod, against the Eutychean
opinions; and here was once a royal palace, from whence both Edward
VI. and Queen Elizabeth were conducted to the throne. The rectory,
which is in the Earl of Salisbury’s gift, is computed at 800_l._ a
year.

The Earl of Salisbury has here a noble seat built by the great Lord
Burleigh, called Hatfield House. The park and gardens, in which is a
vineyard, is watered by the river Lea.

HATFIELD _street_, Goswell street.

HATTON _court_, 1. Saffron hill. 2. Thread-needle street.

HATTON _garden_, Holborn, a broad straight and long street, in which the
houses are pretty lofty; but tho’ they are plain and unadorned on the
outside, yet there being something like regularity in the buildings,
they appear to great advantage; and the street affording a fine vista,
may justly be reckoned among the handsomest within the liberties of
the city. Mr. Strype observes, that here was anciently situated the
mansion house of the Bishop of Ely; adjoining to it was an orchard and
pasture of about forty acres inclosed with a wall, which falling to
the Crown at the death of Bishop Cox, she granted it to the Lord
Chancellor Hatton, and his heirs for ever. Upon which the house was
pulled down, and Hatton Garden, and several other streets erected on
this estate. _Strype’s Stow._

HATTON _wall_, at the end of Hatton garden; probably so called from its
being at the extremity of the wall of the garden in which the street
called Hatton Garden was built. See the preceding article.

HATTON _yard_, Hatton Wall.†

HAVILAND’S _rents_, St. Catharine’s.†

HAUNCH OF VENSION _yard_, Brook street.*

HAWKERS AND PEDLERS _Office_, for granting licences to the hawkers and
pedlers, is kept in Holborn court, Grays Inn. These belong to this
office three commissioners, a comptroller, a cashier, nine riding
surveyors, and a supernumerary riding surveyor, each of whom has a
salary of 100_l._ a year. There are besides a few other officers with
smaller salaries.

HAWS’S _Almshouse_, in Bow lane, Poplar, was founded in the year 1686,
for six poor women, who besides a room have thirty shillings a year
each.

HAY _court_, near Newport market.

HAY _hill_, Dover street.

HAYMARKET, Pall Mall, a pretty long and spacious street, in which there
is the opera house on one side, and a small theatre on the other. It
received its name from there being a market here for hay and straw,
every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

HAZELWOOD _court_, Bunhill row.*

HEATHCOCK _court_, in the Strand.*

HEATH’S _Almshouse_, in Almshouse row,* in the Lower street, Islington,
was founded by John Heath, Esq; in the year 1648, for the reception of
ten decayed members of the clothworkers company, who annually receive
from their corporation, who are trustees for this foundation, the sum
6_l._ each. _Maitland._

HEATH’S _rents_, Church lane, Rag Fair.†

HEDDON’S _court_, Swallow street.†

HEDDON’S _street_, Swallow street.†

HEDGE _alley_, Barnaby street.

HEDGE _lane_, Charing Cross, so called from its being formerly inclosed
all along between two hedges. _Maitland._

HEDGERS _court_, St. Thomas’s, Southwark.

HEDLEY, a village in Surry, three miles from Epsom.

_St._ HELEN’S _Church_, situated in a spacious court, on the east side
of Bishopsgate street, called Little St. Helen’s, is thus denominated
from its dedication to St. Helena, the mother of Constantine the
Great. This church escaped the flames in 1666, and is no ill monument
of the taste of the time in which it was erected. It is a Gothic
structure of the lighter kind; and consists of a plain body, with
large windows not too much encumbered with ornaments. It has a tower
wrought with rustic at the corners, and crowned with a turret and dome
in which is a bell.

In this church was formerly a figure of the Trinity, and a high altar
of St. Helena, to which much devotion was paid. The church is now a
vicarage in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s.

In the north isle is the following inscription, on a large handsome
piece of black marble, under which are placed the remains of the wife,
son, and daughter of Mr. Thomas Payne, bookseller.

Silent grave, to thee I trust
These precious piles of lovely dust;
Keep them safely, sacred tomb,
Till a father asks for room.

_Priory of St._ HELEN’S, was a convent of Black Nuns, founded in the
reign of Henry III. by the above church; but was surrendered to the
Crown in the thirteenth year of the reign of Henry VIII. The nuns
hall, and other houses belonging to the priory, have been since
purchased by the leathersellers company, and is their common hall.

HELMET _alley_, Fore street, Cripplegate.*

HELMET _court_, 1. Butcher Row, Temple Bar.* 2. Near Catharine street,
in the Strand.* 3. Fore street, Cripplegate.* 4. London Wall.* 5. In
the Minories.* 6. Thames street.* 7. Wormwood street.*

HELMET _row_, Old street.*

HEMLOCK _court_, Carey street, Lincoln’s Inn fields.

HEMMING’S _row_, St. Martin’s lane, Charing Cross.†

HEMP _yard_, 1. Creechurch lane. 2. Petticoat lane. 3. Seething lane.

HEMPSTED, or HEMEL-HEMPSTED, a town in Hertfordshire, situated about
eight miles to the west of St. Alban’s, is esteemed one of the
greatest markets for wheat in this county, if not in England: it is
kept on Thursday, and 20,0001. a week is often returned in it for meal
only. Eleven mills stand within four miles of the place, which bring a
great trade to it; but by this means the road is so continually torn,
that it is one of the worst turnpike ways round London.

HEN _court_, Golden lane.*

HEN AND CHICKENS _court_, Fleet street.*

HENNAGE _lane_, Duke’s Place.

HENRIETTA _street_, 1. Cavendish square. 2. Covent Garden.

HENRY _street_, Old street.

HEPPER’S _wharf_, near Puddle dock, Thames street.†

HEPWORTH’S _alley_, Dancing Bridge.†

HERALDS _Office_, or the _College of Arms_, is situated upon St.
Bennet’s hill, near Doctors Commons, at the south west end of St.
Paul’s cathedral. This office was destroyed by the dreadful
conflagration in 1666, and rebuilt about three years after. It is a
square, inclosed by regular brick buildings, which are extremely neat
without expensive decorations. The floors are raised above the level
of the ground, and there is an ascent to them by flights of plain
steps. The principal front is in the lower story ornamented with
rustic, upon which are placed four Ionic pilasters, that support an
angular pediment. The sides which are conformable to this have arched
pediments, that are also supported by Ionic pilasters. On the inside
is a large room for keeping the court of honour; a library; with
houses and apartments for the King’s Heralds and Pursuivants.

This corporation consists of thirteen members, viz. three Kings at
arms, six Heralds at arms, and four Pursuivants at arms; who are
nominated by the Earl Marshal of England, as ministers subordinate to
him in the execution of their offices, and hold their places by
patent, during their good behaviour. They are all the King’s servants
in ordinary, and therefore in the vacancy of the office of Earl
Marshal, have been sworn into their offices by the Lord Chamberlain.
Their meetings are termed chapters, which they hold the first Thursday
in every month, or oftener, if necessary, wherein all matters are
determined by a majority of voices of the Kings and Heralds, each King
having two voices.

The Kings are Garter, Clarenceux and Norroy. Garter was instituted by
King Henry V. in the year 1417, for the service of the most noble
order of the Garter: and for the dignity of that order, he was made
Sovereign, within the office of arms, over all the other officers
subject to the crown of England, by the name of _Garter King of Arms
of England_. By the constitution of his office he must be a native of
England, and a gentleman bearing arms. To him belongs the correction
of arms, and all ensigns of arms usurped or borne unjustly; and the
power of granting arms to deserving persons, and supporters to the
nobility and Knights of the Bath. It is likewise his office to go next
before the sword in solemn processions, none interposing, except the
Marshal; to administer the oath to all the officers of arms; to have a
habit like the register of the order; with Baron’s service in the
court, and lodgings in Windsor Castle; he bears his white rod with a
banner of the ensigns of the order thereon before the Sovereign; when
any Lord enters the parliament chamber, it is his post to assign him
his place, according to his dignity and degree; to carry the ensigns
of the order to foreign Princes, and to do, or procure to be done,
what the Sovereign shall enjoin relating to the order; for the
execution of which he has a salary of 100_l._ a year payable at the
Exchequer, and 100_l._ more out of the revenue of the order; besides
his fees.

The others are called Provincial Kings, and their provinces together,
comprise the whole kingdom of England; that of Clarenceux
comprehending all to the south of the river Trent; and that of Norroy,
all to the north of that river: but tho’ these provincials have
existed time immemorial, they were not constituted to these offices by
the titles of Clarenceux and Norroy before Edward III.

Clarenceux is thus named from the Duke of Clarence, the third son of
King Edward III. It is his duty, according to his commission, to visit
his province, to survey the arms of all persons, &c. and to register
their descents, marriages, &c. to marshal the funerals of all persons
in his province not under the direction of Garter; and in his province
to grant arms, with the consent of the Earl Marshal. Before the
institution of Garter he was the principal officer of arms, and in the
vacancy of Garter he executes his office. Besides his fees, he has a
salary from the Exchequer of 40_l._ a year.

The duty and office of Norroy, or North Roy, that is North King, is
the same on the north of the Trent, as that of Clarenceux on the
south.

The Kings of arms were formerly erected by the Sovereign with great
solemnity, upon some high festival; but since the ceremonies used at
the creation of Peers have been laid aside, the Kings of arms have
been created by the Earl Marshal, by virtue of the Sovereign’s
warrant: upon this occasion he takes his oath; wine is poured upon his
head out of a gilt cup, with a cover; his title is pronounced; and he
invested with a tabart of the royal arms, richly embroidered upon
velvet; a collar of SS. with two portcullises of silver gilt; a gold
chain, with a badge of his office, and the Earl Marshal places on his
head the crown of a King of arms, which formerly resembled a ducal
coronet; but since the restoration it has been adorned with leaves
resembling those of the oak, and circumscribed, according to ancient
custom, with the words, MISERERE MEI DEUS SECUNDUM MAGNAM
MISERICORDIAM TUAM. Garter has also a mantle of crimson sattin, as an
officer of the order; with a white rod or scepter with the Sovereign’s
arms on the top, which he bears in the presence of the Sovereign; and
he is sworn in a chapter of the Garter, the Sovereign investing him
with the ensigns of his office.

The Kings of arms are distinguished from each other by their
respective badges, which they may wear at all times, either in a gold
chain or a ribbon, Garter’s being blue and the Provincials purple.

The six Heralds are Windsor, Chester, Lancaster, York, Richmond, and
Somerset, who take place according to seniority in office. They are
created with the same ceremonies as the Kings, taking the oath of an
Herald, and are inverted with a tabart of the royal arms, embroidered
upon sattin, not so rich as the Kings, but better than the
Pursuivants, and a silver collar of SS. They are Esquires by creation,
and have a salary of 26_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ _per annum_, and fees
according to their degree.

The Kings and Heralds are sworn upon a sword as well as the book, to
shew that they are military, as well as civil officers.