omission was in some degree connected with the favour which the king shewed the Londoners.'

P. 13.

Under the year 1419, we have the following anecdotes of the celebrated Whittington: the latter part is entirely new, and affords one of the many instances in which the prices of the several articles of life are ascertained and exemplified. Which, at the same time that they show how our ancestors lived, inform us how they could afford to live.

This was the year in which Sir Richard Whittington filled the chief magistracy for the third time of whom tradition has conveyed to posterity the most incredible anecdotes. Industry and integrity raised him from an humble state to affluence: and the Cat, it is said, of which we have all heard from our nurses, was no more than the name of a ship, whose fortunate voyages assisted his progress in the world. The entertainment he gave to Henry and his queen at Guildhall, immediately after the conquest of France, will probably afford the truest idea of his wealth. On this occasion he caused a fire to be made of wood mixed with cinnamon and other spices and aromatics, and tore and burnt in it the king's bond of ten thousand marks due to the company of mercers; another of fifteen hundred marks, due to the chamber of London; a third of two thousand due to the grocers; another of three thousand marks due to several other companies; and divers others; in all to the amount of sixty thousand pounds, borrowed by the king to pay his army in France and then told his majesty that he had taken in and discharged all those debts, and made his majesty a present of the whole. Beside this great act of public good, he founded and endowed several charities. He built the church of St. Michael in the ward of Vintry, and added to it a college, still existing. Near which he also erected an hospital or Maison dieu; gave handsomely to St. Bartholomew's hospital, and left sufficient by his will to rebuild Newgate. The citizens, particularly the mercers, long kept his anniversary with particular respect. Among the returns of chantries, &c. in the second year of Edward the Sixth, is the following from the Mercer's company:

"Paide yerely for the obitte of MASTER WHITTINGTON for spicest brede with the spices and whyte bunes and butter with other thinges thereto apperteyninge xlis. viijd. For perres, apples, pyskettes, chese, ale and wyne and the butteler's fee with other thinges xxviijs. viijd. For waxe and ringing of bells ijs. To the poor men for to offer xiijd. To the Lord Maior of London vjs. viijd. To the thre wardens of the Mercers iijli. and to the rent Warden xls. To the clarke of the Mercers vjs. viijd. And as for priestes and clerkes we never paid none .. ixli. vjs. ijd." P. 36.

The measures which were taken by the city during the rebellion of sir Thomas Wyat have never, we believe, before been specified.

On the breaking out of Wyat's rebellion, occasioned by the report of queen Mary's intended marriage with Philip of Spain, the

1

city was thrown into a violent commotion. Mary determined to try the affection of the citizens herself, and though she made them a long and flattering speech at Guildhall, professing that she loved them as a mother loves her children, and placed every reliance on their firm attachment, yet she left the lord Howard to assist the mayor in opposing the entry of Wyat. The arrival of the rebels in Southwark, and their efforts to obtain possession of London, are minutely detailed by Holinshed. Suffice it to observe that, finding all endeavours to enter by the bridge ineffectual, Sir Thomas Wyat marched along the bank of the river, crossed the Thames at Kingston, and imprudently proceeding through Westminster to London, not only failed in the assistance he relied on from the citizens, but found himself surrounded by the royal troops, surrendered to prevent the bloodshed which he saw would be evidently useless, and was beheaded soon after upon Towerhill. On this occasion, as appears from the "Proceedings of the Court of Aldermen," six hundred harnessed men were immediately provided by the city, whose captains were, however, furnished by her Majesty's council: chains of defence were ordered to be placed at the bridge foot, and New Fish-street corner: a false draw-bridge was prepared at London-bridge: the armed watch of the city, headed in each ward by the respective alderman, was doubled: householders, of the yearly rent of 11. 6s. 8d. were ordered to prepare arms as far as might be convenient; and the mayor and aldermen were to make an offer to the queen of a thousand marks toward a proposed garrison. To such as have it not in their power to examine the public records of the city, it may be curious to observe that the preparations to oppose the rebels, here recited, were no hindrance to those of a more splendid kind, which were going on for the public reception of Philip. Intermixed with orders of a defensive nature, we find others which direct the gates and draw-bridges of the city to be trimmed and decorated in the same manner they had before been at the coming of the emperor; and a pageant to be erected at the conduit in Gracechurch-street, with one also at St. Margaret, in new Fish-street; with singing and playing by the parish clerks and children. At the corner, by Leaden-hall, "a principal pageant ;" and others in Cornhill, Cheapside, Ludgate and Fleet-street; the stocks to be adorned with rich hangings, and Ludgate and Temple-bar to be new painted.' P. 72.

To lay this portion of the work before us under farther contribution would be needless. Its facts, and dates, and illustrations, are all particularly accurate. And having briefly hinted at the improvement of the prebendal estate of Finsbury, as materially connected with the affairs of the city, it closes with the following remarks:

Since the period of this advantage, London has been chiefly remarkable for its continual increase, and its steady attachment to its sovereign; while its vast improvements, even in times of the heaviest pressure, have excited the wonder of surrounding nations. They who walk through the streets of London, and compare the condition of those which are well paved, either with the recollection of their former state, or with such as yet remain under the old disadvantages, cannot but be forcibly struck with the contrast; while the improved size and

arrangement of the houses, the free circulation of the air, and the in troduction of fresh water, not only have kept our metropolis free from every symptom of infection, but, within the last half century, have made a considerable diminution in the annual bills of mortality. The cause of its amazing extension is a curious subject for political economists; and the spirit of improvement which still pervades the minds of its inhabitants is undoubtedly entitled to our admiration. Schemes of the most magnificent extent still occupy the minds of hundreds; and the more busy part of the metropolis may be expected, while our trade continues in prosperity, gradually to rival the suburbs in airiness, while it far exceeds them in its elegance. To the antiquary, London is still a source of inexhaustible intelligence: while its History is more diversified in events, and its influence, in a national point of view, more powerful, than those of any city in the universe.' F. 102.

The conclusion will, perhaps, exhibit as full and as accurate a view of the remaining portions of the work as the intelligent reader can possibly require.

At the end of this work, which is intended to be a faithful picture of the general and present state of the metropolis, it should be remembered that the minutia and almost innumerable circumstances which swell the folios of Maitland, Seymour, and other writers, have here been carefully avoided. When to collect such minutiæ is the plan, the more ample and complete such collections are the higher value they give to the work. But when, as in the present history, it is meant to give such an account that the reader may form images to himself of the things described, whether they should or should not be familiar to him, the language and the manner that are proper to produce these effects ought to be adopted. Thus, in the introductory History of London, those remarkable facts have been preferred which are connected with the history of the kingdom; as well as those which have tended to raise it to its present splendour. In the general description of the place, efforts have been invariably made to give enlarged views upon the subject. Under the head" Present Manners and Police" pictures are drawn of things as they are; leavings things as they have been to a different kind of work. The hospitals, tribunals, palaces, and other appurtenances of state; the commerce, public and commercial buildings; the squares, statues, and archiVtecture; a detail of the actual state of the prisons; the learned societies, literature, journals, and bibliography; the theatres, and public amusements; together with the state of the fine arts: under each of these heads the constant endeavour has been to afford accurate, ample, and pleasing information. Such is the object of the present work, and of its success the reader by this time is able to decide.' P. 473.

The plates in the first part amount to twenty-three. The view of London and Westminster, copied from the camera obscura in the roval observatory at Greenwich; the interior of the court of king's-bench, the theatres, and the houses of lords and commons; the views of St. Paul's, with that of the inside during the grand assemblage of the children; the distribution of the prizes at the society of arts, and Westmin

ster abbey, are perhaps the best. At the end of the work are above thirty more, of the itinerant traders, or coloured costumes, placed in alphabetical order, with letter-press to each, describing not only the trade and its follower, but the particular building or street of the metropolis represented in the back ground. With one of these descriptions we shall bring our remarks to a conclusion.

'MATCHES.-The criers of this convenient article are very numerous, and among the poorest inhabitants of the metropolis, subsisting more on the waste meats they receive from the kitchens, where they sell their Matches at six bunches per penny, than on the. profits arising from their sale. Old women, crippled men, or a mother followed by three or four ragged children, and offering their Matches to sale, excite compassion, and are often relieved, when the importunity of the mere beggar is rejected. The elder children of a poor family, like the boy seen in the Plate, are frequent traders in Matches, and these generally sing a kind of song, and sell and beg alternately. App. ·

We need hardly add, that many of the itinerant traders, particularly the show-man, the slipper-seller, and the pyeman, are portraits of well-known characters. In the copy of the work, however, we have seen some of them that are coloured but indifferently; and we would recommend to Mr. Craig, who designed them, to obtain fresh instructions in the art of drawing wheel-barrows. The abatements from praise, which a rigid critic might point out, are few: for our own part, we recommend the work with confidence.

ART XII.-The Trader and Manufacturer's Compendium ; containing the Laws, Customs, and Regulations, relative to Trade, intended for the Use of Wholesale and Retail Dealers. By Joshua Montefiore, Esq. Author of the Commercial Dictionary, Commercial Precedents, &c. &c. 2 Vols. 8vo. 18s. Boards. Champante and Whitrow. 1804.

THE sole object MODESTLY avowed by this author is, in a well-digested arrangement,' to present A COMPLETE COMPENDIUM of all that knowledge essential to the trader and manufacturer, in a mode at once concise, perspicuous, and comprehensive, and EXCLUSIVELY adapted to the purpose: he has permitted nothing to escape his notice which would be interesting to those for whom the work is intended,' whether merchants, retailers, manufacturers, or mechanics!!

Arduous is the task here undertaken; multifarious must be

the materials, and varied the talents, indispensable for its execution. To unqualified professions from any individual, however accomplished, our readers rarely listen with complacence.

Less lucrative than the speculations of commerce, the pursuits of LITERATURE assuredly render us insignificant critics on TRADE. We are, however, sufficiently men of business to detect, in this publication, defects which excite our surprise, that the author could close his work without the usual precaution of E and O excepted!'

The principal merits of every manual, or abridgement of knowledge for general use, are judicious selection, simplicity of language, comprehensive brevity, luminous arrangement, and, above all, correctness. For articles irrelevant to the main design, diffuse explanations where details are not essential, disproportionate attention to trifles, and neglect or forgetfulness of important objects, a few useful insertions inadequately compensate. By a cursory reference, merchants will, with us, determine that a minute analysis is unnecessary to form a judgement of this compilation. The defects of Mr. Montefiore are glaring. His work is inaccurate and incomplete. We shall mention occasional passages in which his selections have been least erroneous, and adduce instances of his aberrations to justify our censures. As examples of disproportion, we remark, that the article. Alexandria, in a commercial sense magni nominis umbra,' occupies a space nearly equal to that of Amsterdam. To Berkshire, and Bedfordshire,' nearly twenty lines are allowed: even Brighthelmstone is thought worthy of a more detailed description than the whole of ASIA, of which the account is limited to eleven lines; the writer satisfactorily assuring us, that its productions are various. We enumerate among his domestic blunders the omission of Rochdale, a place of considerable importance in the manufacture of British woollens and, strange to tell!' the whole of Gloucestershire, with its vast establishments, as well as the trad ing city and port of EXETER. The wool of KENT is overlooked, while the toys of Tunbridge have honourable mention. WILTSHIRE is only celebrated for its bacon and cheese!" its manufactures of cloth, &c. are forgotten. In his progresses through England, Mr. Montefiore travels enveloped with mist. He discovers the rivers of DEVON to be the Teign, the Dart, and the SAMAR (the Tamar is probably intended, which is, in part, a Cornish river): but entirely loses the principal river of the county, the ExE! If butter and cider form any considerable part of the trade of Devon, we have heard also of its woollen manufactures exported as